iLounge

France Telecom’s Orange unit will sell the upcoming iPhone 3G in France from €149, beginning July 17, the company announced today. As the iPhone’s exclusive carrier in France, Orange said the 8GB iPhone 3G will be sold at €149 with Orange for iPhone, Origami Star (from 3 hours), First, and Jet plans, while the 16GB model will be sold for €199, with the same plans. With other plans (excluding time-cutoff and pay-as-you-go), the 8GB model will run €199 and the 16GB for €249, and the phones will also be offered at those prices through the Orange loyalty upgrade program. In addition, current iPhone owners who purchased their phone before June 12 and are using it with a qualifying Orange plan will be able to buy the 8GB iPhone 3G for €99 through a €100 rebate valid until October 31, as part of the “Change your mobile” program, subject to a 24-month contract. Orange also revealed (PDF link) that there is a fair usage limit on iPhone 3G data of 500MB per month, with current average iPhone data usage at 100MB per month, and noted that over 66% of the French population is covered by its 3G service.