Originally Posted by palandri:
That's also what I have read. France, Belgium and a few others required unlocked phones to be available to prevent the monopolization by one company.
Be careful to separate the issues of "simlocking" and "exclusivity". For "our" purposes (to get a Pre and use it on another country and/or network), all we really care about is if it's simlock-free.
iPhones in France are sold by all major carriers (nonexclusive distribution), but still simlocked into their network for a few months (unless you pay the equivalent of the subsidy).