UK iPhone

This is double-plus ungood news if true: the BBC have discovered portions of Orange’s terms and conditions (T&C’s) relating to the iPhone that seem to rule out any “non-Orange” streaming. Presumably including Spotify, and possibly even Facebook messaging:

“Not to be used for other activities (eg using your handset as a modem, non-Orange internet based streaming services, voice or video over the internet, instant messaging, peer to peer file sharing, non-Orange internet based video). Should such use be detected notice may be given and Network protection controls applied to all services which Orange does not believe constitutes mobile browsing.”

It’s certainly true that Orange have a history of “locking down” their phones more than most, but whether Apple would allow them to prevent specific apps from running is another question entirely. It’s not clear how the “Network protection controls” would work; not sure how they could tell data requested by Spotify apart from data requested by Safari. Although perhaps they would just block Spotify’s servers?

In any event, this is a huge question mark over Orange’s iPhone offering, and I’m now thinking we should wait for further clarification, and if possible, actual proof that Orange iPhones work as they should, before taking the plunge with Orange.

UPDATE: This seems to have been a bit of a storm in a teacup; there have been no reports of Orange banning services such as Spotify. It’s likely that the T&Cs have simply been drafted by a paranoid legal team intent on protecting Orange from some illusory threats. But be aware of Orange’s relatively mean 750Mb/month data limit; this is less than Vodafone’s 1Mb per month limit.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.