14 DAY TRIAL // Nobody expected the T-Mobile announcement that it would carry the iPhone yesterday, considering the media event that took place just a day before. That, however, seems like nothing out of the ordinary compared to the announcement today from Orange.
France Telecom has announced that its wireless arm, Orange, has signed an agreement with Apple to be the distributor for the iPhone in France. Amazingly enough, the low-profile announcement has not even been mirrored by Apple, with a public statement. "We have signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone," France Telecom's spokeswoman said, adding that the company will start selling the combined mobile phone and media player in November. Unlike the O2 announcement and the T-Mobile one where the lunch date of November 9TH was mentioned, Orange gave no set date, but it seems unlikely that it would be different. Similarly, no mention whatsoever of the pricing has been made, although the France Telecom's spokeswoman did mention that Orange "won't subsidize the iPhone."
The iPhone announcements have certainly been strange this week, coming one after the other with less and less ado. It makes little sense that the deals were not all announced at the same time during Apple's media event on Tuesday, unless the deals had not been struck by then, which would make even less sense. Whatever the case, Europeans waiting for the iPhone now have a set timeframe, and although the launch is still some time away, the wait is bearable. The only factor that remains a mystery now are the service plans that have yet to be announced. No doubt, like all service plans for the iPhone so far, they will have unlimited Internet access in order to take advantage of the device's features.
With the European launch in sight, Japan is the next big hurdle, although it is possible that other European countries get the device before then.