Like any European vacation, by the time you reach your third historic capital, you’re running out of steam. At least the kind of steam that fuels international media coverage of the iPhone.
With rumors no doubt carefully planted-speculation in the European business press over the past month on which Euro-operators would launch the device have turned out to be correct-Apple Inc. completed its rounds of The Continent.
This just in: Orange France, a unit of France Telecom, will also carry the device. As rumored.
No details beyond a November launch were given.
In the aftermath of announcements earlier this week from O2 in London and T-Mobile in Berlin, however, it’s likely the French iPhone will go on sale Nov. 9 at an unsubsidized price close to the $537 and $553 announced at those carriers. But the cost and structure of monthly service may well vary from that announced by the first two operators. Service plans are the most localized aspect of the Euro-launches of the iPhone, apart from obvious language differences.
News of the Orange France deal apparently dribbled out as the operator simply confirmed the news late yesterday. The low-key manner in which the news came to light-without the fanfare that attended Tuesday’s highly publicized launch at O2 in London-might stem from delays at the operator in determining its device and service plan pricing. Clearly, with rumors rife, the media did Steve Jobs’ job for him on this last of three European announcements.
With sparse details, iPhone lands in France
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