German win for closed iPhone contracts
The suit was brought by Vodafone. The ruling lifts an injunction previously given Vodafone halting sales of the iPhone in Germany.
Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, which is in a close race with AT&T Wireless for the largest U.S. cellular supplier. Deutsche Telekom is the parent of T-Mobile, number four in the U.S. market. In the U.S., AT&T has the iPhone exclusive.
Both German networks are GSM networks, and Verizon has said it will transition its U.S. network from CDMA to a successor of GSM by 2010. AT&T Wireless is a GSM network.
The decision is a big win for closed source and exclusive contracts in Europe, where such victories have been few lately.It's expected to put a lot of iPhones under German Christmas trees this month, and if the U.S. trend holds it will move market share a few points as well.
What might be the result of this? Hopefully Vodafone, and Verizon, will get a clue and offer more cooperation to Google's Android, further opening their networks. They might also deliver a true Internet experience, rather than the walled garden of data services Verizon is noted for.
That is what I'd like under my tree, anyway.