December 4th, 2007
German win for closed iPhone contracts
A German court has ruled that Deutsche Telekom has a right to force iPhone buyers into a two-year contract and block them from using it on other networks.
The suit was brought by Vodafone. The ruling lifts an injunction previously given Vodafone halting sales of the iPhone in Germany.
Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, which is in a close race with AT&T Wireless for the largest U.S. cellular supplier. Deutsche Telekom is the parent of T-Mobile, number four in the U.S. market. In the U.S., AT&T has the iPhone exclusive.
Both German networks are GSM networks, and Verizon has said it will transition its U.S. network from CDMA to a successor of GSM by 2010. AT&T Wireless is a GSM network.
The decision is a big win for closed source and exclusive contracts in Europe, where such victories have been few lately.It’s expected to put a lot of iPhones under German Christmas trees this month, and if the U.S. trend holds it will move market share a few points as well.
What might be the result of this? Hopefully Vodafone, and Verizon, will get a clue and offer more cooperation to Google’s Android, further opening their networks. They might also deliver a true Internet experience, rather than the walled garden of data services Verizon is noted for.
That is what I’d like under my tree, anyway.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 12/04/07
