Unofficial reports have indicated what French iPhone customers can expect from the wireless plans that Orange will be offering in conjunction with the impending release. MacGeneration reports (1 | 2) that the data will be virtually unlimited – for services such as visual voicemail, emails and internet – but Orange says that it reserves the right to limit the data plan to 500MB per month. The company supposedly has upwards of 20,000 handsets available for the launch, which it will have the most stock through its stores on the Champs d'Elysées, in Lyon Cordeliers, and the Marseille Orange Center, with the number of handsets being between 500 and 1000 per shop, while the vast majority of its other stores having between four and 30. Pricing for plans will range between 50 and 120 Euros.
Orange will be reportedly allowing users to unlock their iPhone within the first six months of the contract for 100 Euros, with free unlocking thereafter. The carrier is working hard at optimizing its products and services for the upcoming launch, with the web portal having undergone some maintenance to comply with the iPhone. While Orange's video service and Unik plans are not yet available for the device, the company should be refining them shortly after launch.
The AppleCare for the iPhone will not be available right away, and any warranty replacements will be handled through Apple, rather than Orange. The Bluetooth headset, dual dock, AC adapter, and the iPhone stereo headset will be available at launch.
The official launch is set for November 29th, with some early-bird events happening from 6PM to 10PM on the 28th. Curiously, Orange may not have the visual voicemail infrastructure ready in time for the launch, with a tentative late-January estimate of when it will be done.
The British launch of the iPhone lead to the O2 CEO saying that the iPhone was the fastest selling device the company has ever seen, seeing upwards of 8000 activations within the first 24 hours. The German release saw 10,000 handsets sold on the first day, with shuttles carrying many eager customers to Cologne, from Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg.
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