Applen have been selling the iPhone with a ridiculous locked contract that not only forces people to stick with one operator for 18 months – 2 years, it also prevents them from using the iPhone on any other network.

In the UK, that network is O2 – if you want to have an iPhone, it has to be on O2, and it has to be on an 18 month contract. Across the rest of Europe, the operators you use differ, with different operators winning the iPhone deal in different countries. In Germany, T-Mobile won, for example, while in France, it was Orange.

The only common feature across all of Europe is that Vodafone lost. You can’t use an iPhone on Vodafone’s network in any country…until now!

Vodafone have successfully challenged T-Mobile’s rights to sell a locked iPhone, forcing the network operator in Germany to open up the iPhone so it can be used on any network. T-Mobile have had no choice but to comply with a court injunction won by Vodafone, and so have started to sell unlocked iPhones for a hefty premium over their locked cousins.

Actually, hefty is an understatement. An unlocked iPhone will set you back no less than 999 EUROs (£719, or $1,477 – blimey, the dollar’s more like the old Lira every time I look!), which is significantly more than the 399 EUROs you pay for a locked version.

Mind you, T-Mobile will lock you into a two year contract for the iPhone in Germany, which will set you back a whopping 1,176 EUROs,m so maybe stumping up 999 EUROs to begin with isn’t that bad a deal.

On second thoughts, no, it is, because the iPhone isn’t worth anywhere near that amount of cash. Not with the iPod Touch (which is exactly the same device as the iPhone, just without the phone part) selling for just 277 EUROs.

[Source: BBC News, The Times Online]