France Telecom & subsidiary Orange have issued a statement today that they have signed an exclusive deal with Apple that will allow them to bring the iPhone to Orange subscribers all over the world… including Mauritius.
Update 19.12.2008: iPhone 3G at last in Mauritius - & it sucks!
PARIS - French wireless operator Orange said Friday it has signed a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its iPhone in the Middle East, Africa and several European countries.
France Telecom's Orange said in a one-sentence statement that it will sell the handset in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and African markets later this year.
France Telecom spokesman Bertrand Deronchaine said Orange will be the exclusive iPhone provider in Belgium and Romania, with co-exclusive or non-exclusive deals in other countries. He declined to offer more details about the arrangement.
Orange’s African markets include — in addition to Egypt — the Ivory Coast, Jordan, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Mauritius, and Réunion.
Via Apple 2.0 at Fortune500 & Yahoo! & Orange.
AAPL-Investors have also already updated their iPhone Tracker to include Mauritius.
After having conquered India, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Turkey, etc. it was inevitable that the iPhone would finally come to Mauritius through Orange. Yeah, I know the iPhone is already unofficially here in the black market (the clone as well), but you need to jailbreak it - something you’ll need to do in any case if you want to install apps. & what’s more surprising is that Mauritius will get it before Japan, South Korea & Russia! - Japan & South Korea being years ahead of us, they wouldn’t need such a vintage product.
But there are some BIG questions that are still unclear… Will the iPhone be an Orange exclusivity or will it come unlocked? & how to activate it - remember that you need to log onto iTunes to be able to activate it via Internet. & what about the price??
Well, just forget these for a while - what matters is that the IPHONE IS COMING TO MAURITIUS!!!
No, but wait… it’s not the current iPhone, but iPhone 2.0 featuring 3G! The tech blogs are awash with rumours all pointing towards the impending release of 3G iPhone. So stay tuned for the 9th of June when Steve Jobs will fish out a brand new gadget from his back pocket.
Actually, very few people know what’s on the 3G iPhone… blame it on Apple’s obsession with secrecy!
Predictions for iPhone 2.0
- 3G (UMTS & HSDPA???)
- A-GPS
- 32GB flash storage
- 720x480 resolution?
- App support (available through App Store)
- Better camera with video recording (3MP?)
- Video conferencing (aka video call)
- Flash support
- Shiny black back?
Apple iShop Mauritius
That's where the iPhone will be coming... found at Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis.
Photo Credit Flickr
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