Now, France Goes After the iPhone

The ruling is a result of a rather obvious land-grab by rival French telco Bouygues Telecom, which filed a complaint back in September. Of course, the iPhone is hot and everyone wants a piece of that action, and Bouygues' complaint is clearly aimed less at a free and open market (as if!) and more at taking a slice of the Apple pie.

While a few countries have multiple carriers offering the iPhone, most have the same exclusive relationship as Orange in France. And with very few notable exceptions (O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US), they all take advantage of that exclusivity to rip off the customer.

In Spain, for example, Movistar offers two tiers of data service, arguably the most important part of an iPhone plan. The lower is capped at just 200MB per month and will cost a minimum of E24 ($35). If you want the top-of-the-line (and still barely useful) 1GB per month, you'll need to pay a minimum of E45 ($65). A little competition would lower that price considerably.

Bouyges Telecom is rubbing its hands in anticipation, and plans to offer the iPhone soon (if, of course, Apple agrees). Orange is doing the obvious, too, and will appeal the decision in court, further proving that good service and a great product is not important in the free market -- you just need to have enough money for good lawyers.

By Charlie Sorrel for WIred.com