14 DAY TRIAL // Finland residents looking to get their hands on Apple’s latest iPhone can make their purchase without having to tie it to a wireless contract. Admittedly, the phone is more expensive this way, but customers won’t have to deal with the hassle of paying increments each month in a two year plan.
A report by YLE.fi confirms that “People eager to buy Apple's latest iPhone in Finland can now do so without committing to a separate phone plan,” citing news from Finnish carrier Elisa, which plans to start selling the handset “without a tie-in sale” this Thursday.
It notes that, up until now, Apple fans in Finland were forced to purchase “a fixed airtime contract” in tandem with their iPhone 4.
Moreover, Finnish customers were able to buy the smartphone through operator TeliaSonera only.
When Elisa launches the unlocked iPhone 4 on Thursday, the handset will reportedly be available to all customers, regardless of their operator.
Prices are fixed at at 589 euros for the 16GB version of the iPhone 4, and at 689 euros for the model with with 32 gigabytes of storage capacity.
Recently, Apple has launched its iPhone 4 in several new territories, including China, Malaysia, Guam, Israel, Turkey, Romania and others.
The phone has been warmly received by customers worldwide, despite negative reports regarding the phone’s ability to hold a strong signal, as well as the issues surrounding iOS 4, the latest mobile operating system from Apple.
The phone is yet to launch in several other territories that have not yet received shipments of the device.
Also, there’s a white version of the handset that Apple has been holding off citing manufacturing difficulties. Some are inclined to believe that the company is doing this on purpose, in order to fix the phone’s antenna issues.