Apple's iPhone
A Hamburg court has ruled that the exclusive contract between Apple and T-Mobile is legal

T-Mobile keeps German iPhone monopoly

Court throws out Vodafone appeal

Iain Thomson

A Hamburg court has ruled that T-Mobile can sell Apple's iPhone exclusively in Germany, overturning a restraining order granted to Vodafone that had forced the sale of unlocked handsets.

The move will be a blow to other mobile networks which had hoped for a repeat of a similar case in France that forced Orange to sell unlocked iPhones.

Advertisement

But the Regional Court of Hamburg has ruled that the exclusive contract between Apple and T-Mobile is legal.

"From the beginning we were convinced that this offer was legal and really good for the customer," T-Mobile spokesman Klaus Czerwinski told the International Herald Tribune after the ruling.

The court has allowed Vodafone to appeal within one month, and the company has said that it will examine the ruling before making a decision.

"These sales terms are to the detriment of consumers and we wanted a court to review them," said Vodafone spokesman Jens Kuerten.

Marco Hartmann-Rüppel, a competition lawyer at TaylorWessing in Hamburg, insisted that the verdict was not unexpected.

"The ruling is no surprise and I do not think Vodafone can change things on appeal," he said.

But the case raises the possibility of a challenge under European law, given that different member states have different policies on 'exclusive' contracts.

The ruling will certainly make Apple more careful over plans to extend sales of the iPhone.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Share

Tags:

Do you agree?

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Most watched

Summit: Salesforce.com on SaaS and information overload

How web services contribute to data headaches

V3.co.uk weekly debrief, 13 Nov 09

This week we discuss the inaugural V3.co.uk Summit

Analysis and Reports

Remote access - Three steps to getting connected

3.4 million UK professionals now work from home – is your company equipped?

Cost benefits of a global collaboration network

This white paper is a must read for organisations looking for evidence of the bottom-line benefits of high-definition video and voice communications

Poll

Impact of Information Overload poll

Impact of Information Overload poll

What is the biggest problem your firm faces as a result of the data explosion?

View poll results

Advertisement

White paper library

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Spotlight

V3.co.uk weekly debrief, 13 Nov 09

This week we discuss the inaugural V3.co.uk Summit

Fingers on keyboard

New Flash vulnerability discovered

Web sites could be vulnerable to Flash attacks

Chris Adams

Summit: Microsoft Office to the rescue

Chris Adams, Office Client product manager for Microsoft UK, explains...

Illegal downloader

Industry and human rights campaigners united in opposition to "three strikes" plan

Critics says government proposals to curb illegal downloading are unworkable...

Primary Navigation