A German court has given T-Mobile Germany until close of business on Wed. to make the iPhone available for rival carriers, after Vodaphone took the cell phone carrier to court, filing an injunction.
T-Mobile is standing firm, however, and right now, they have said in a statement that they will “oppose the preliminary injunction filed by Vodafone”
So what does this mean to iPhone owners in Germany? Well, probably not much right this second, but if Vodaphone ultimately wins in court, the iPhone could be forced to either be non-exclusive in Germany – or get the hell out.
Vodaphone has no plans to go to court in other markets at this time.
4 thoughts on “T-Mobile Germany forced to allow iPhone on Rival Carriers”
that can only be a good thing. an open market means competition and that (hopefully) would lead to more competitive phone plans.
although i would still rather chop off my hand than sign a contract with either t-mobile or vodaphone…
Doesn’t matter. Either way, we’d be paying way too much, and I don’t think the iPhone would come at lower monthly fees with Vodafone, they typically have even less fair pricing then t-Mobile here in Germany.
“So what does this mean to iPhone owners in Germany? Well, probably not much right this second, but if Vodaphone ultimately wins in court, the iPhone could be forced to either be non-exclusive in Germany – or get the hell out.”
Actually T-Mobile is required to comply with the preliminary injunction until tomorrow morning (German time) or stop the iPhone sales and pay high fines. So it could mean unlocked iPhones available in German T-Mobile stores from tomorrow morning on. (At least for the next two weeks, until the whole thing goes to court again…)
Sorry guys you’re all daydreamers.
There is no such thing as an unlocked iPhone other than the one YOU unlock yourself. iPhone is not meant to be unlocked- this harms Apple’s business. So there will be no sale of unlocked phones here in germany.
Also the injunction won’t probably stand. The court in Hamburg is well known for issuing injunctions of any kind that have no substance.
So don’t fool yourself…
VF BTW is a pain in the a.. as a provider as well. When i tried to cancel my contract with them 2 years ago – that was a story!
Almost as much an adventure as cancelling an AOL account! 😉
Carriers can’t be trusted – they’re just looking for our best – MONEY!