Orange-Apple cartel deemed illegal in France

Yep, the French Competition Council (Le Conseil de la Concurrence) has temporarily suspended the iPhone exclusivity with Orange, deeming it uncompetitive. This comes as a blow to Orange who had negotiated a 5-year contract to for exclusive access to the iPhone.

Good news for French users as SFR, Bouygues Telecom & other mobile operators will be able to sell the iPhone on their networks by Christmas. The Council have also disallowed the sale of unlocked iPhones by Orange for a 100 Euro premium. Orange have decided to appeal the decision.

What does this mean for Orange Mauritius?
Frankly, nothing. Orange MAURITIUS will still go on with their planned launch of the iPhone for this Friday 19th Dec. If we only had a competition agency… maybe in a decade or so. Mauritius is still a backwards country where the customer is still a slave…

Le client est esclave. – Steve Jobs

Latest rumours suggest that the iPhone will be sold at Rs 13k with a 2-year contract + a monthly fee of Rs 1250 for 250MB Internet access, 10h communication & 200 SMS = Rs 43,000.
Apple Tax PWNS.

More info on tv5.org
Update 19.12.2008: iPhone 3G at last in Mauritius - & it sucks!