IPHONE CONTRACT IN FRANCE, UNLOCKING?

So I'm moving to france in September and I'm in need of a new phone, I want an Iphone 5 white, 32/64 gb. So obviously i'm not wanting to buy the phone and the contract separately. I' just going to use a brick phone to text friends and family back in the uk. What I was hoping Is does anyone know of any phone networks in france where I could get a reasonable contract for this phone with preferably 1gb of internet but calls and texts aren't so important. Over here I got an offer for £79 for the phone upfront then £29 per month for two years. Also I would be coming to the UK occasionally (i'm going over their for uni) so I would like to use the phone freely here. But i've heard that with iphones if you buy the phone in france only French simcards would work, but there are ways of unlocking them so that you can put a sim from the uk. Is any of this true?

When you get your Iphone, you should be able to explain the situation to your service supplier and get them to unlock it for you, at a fee. I had to do this with my 3gs about 12 months ago for similar reasons. I think I was charged £25. As far as getting a French contract goes, I'd wait until you are in France and see what deals are on offer at the time as things are constantly changing. Hope this helps.

If France is like the UK this will be the situation

Only Iphone bought from Apple directly will be unlocked take any sim card and remain UNLOCKED.

CPW in the UK (France Le CPW?) sell unlocked IPhones, however ( as I don't like my but) they will lock PERMANENTLY to the first sim card and can't be unlocked… Ever.

This could pose a problem if you source you phone from another outlet as many who do buy their iPhones from CPW are unaware of the LOCKED to first simcard and may sell it as unlocked.yada yada yada.

I would expect that will be the same Europe wide only APPLE iphones are unlocked

The Apple iPhone is the ONLY 4G phone that is NOT 4G LTE READY!

All iPhone5 will be 4G EE ONLY as they only have the one band used by EE.

If you want a 4G LTE ready iPhone it will in all likelyhood be the IP5S,
If you buy a IP5 anywhere on the planet it is ONLY 4G LTE on EE IN THE UK

Yodafone & O2 commence 4G LTE roll-out LONDON 29/08/2013, any IP5 will only ever be 3G on these network, there's NO upgrade

If you buy a IP5 anywhere on the planet it is ONLY 4G LTE on EE in UK

  • Will my sprint Iphone 5 work in Paris, France? I will be traveling to Paris this summer and I need to know if I need to get like an international plan or something.
  • Will buying an iphone in contract and unlocking cause contract immediate fee? If i buy a iphone for example on att contract and unlock it, will att charge me what's left on the contract or will i just go by like nothing happened and free of contract? I haven't seen this but it makes quite a bit of sense for companies… Not sure if they do however.
  • Where can i get a sim card for my iphone for france? I have an iPhone 5 and i will be traveling to France this summer for 10 days. I have read about where to get prepaid sim cards but they all seem to be bought in France. I want to know if I can buy it in the USA and then just put it in my phone. My phone is unlocked but my carrier does not support International. Also, when would i put it in my phone, the day i leave or could it still work while in America and I just put it in early?
  • What is the cheapest way to use my iPhone while studying in France? I will be studying in France from February through June. I have an iPhone 4s and I'm currently using at&t. I've heard there's a way to buy a pre-paid sim card? The main reason I would like a cell phone while abroad is to communicate with friends in France. I plan on using Skype to talk to anyone in the US.