Apple Thoughts: Orange iPhone Exclusive in France Struck Down

"France's leading mobile operator, Orange, has failed to restore its exclusive deal with Apple to sell the latest version of the iPhone in France as the Paris Appeal Court confirmed a competition watchdog's ruling, reports Reuters."

I don't see how having the iPhone on one carrier hurts competition. The only thing it does do is give one carrier a phone that other carriers can't carry. In essence, the argument being made is that other companies simply can't compete with the iPhone. Maybe it's because I'm in the business and have been for so long, but I'm just a little jaded when it comes to cries of "competition" in the wireless industry. Is it really competition when every wireless carrier offers almost the same plans for almost the same price? Sounds more like collusion than competition to me. I wouldn't be surprised if the carriers in Europe, to avoid stupidity like this, just start doing what they do in the US: only have phones on different bands altogether. For example, a T-Mobile 3G phone (1700 Mhz) won't work on AT&T's 3G Network (2100 Mhz). It won't be long before carriers in Europe start changing up their networks just so only their devices will work on their network.

It should be noted that France's gripe was mainly with the 5 year length of the exclusive agreement, though, meaning you can do this horrible exclusive thing as long as you don't do it for too long. Isn't it nice to know your business practices are being guided by those geniuses of business also known as the government?