You all already know that Apple sells coded iPhones in many countries around the world, the mobile phone operators being the ones who ask for the coding of the terminals. Although so far the company has not been sued by anyone for coding the terminals, a telecommunications company in Hong Kong says that the policy of blocking the functionality of the terminals iPhone 5 would have generated losses of hundreds of millions of local dollars. Practically iPhone 5 does not work on the network LTE 4G of the operator, Apple blocking the possibility of accessing 4G LTE networks unverified by it, regardless of which country it is.
HONG KONG—The battle over sales of locked Apple Inc. iPhones have reached Hong Kong after a local telecommunications company filed court documents this week seeking to contest the practice. According to court documents filed by a unit of PCCW Ltd., Hong Kong's dominant telecommunications company, the operator has allegedly lost "hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars" because Apple's latest iPhone 5 doesn't work on its fourth-generation network. Apple has come under heavy fire for its phone-locking policies in the US, where for years, the iPhones it sold were configured to operate only on the AT&T network.
Apple wants to check every network LTE 4G of the operators to see if the iDevices can work without problems on them, and the unverified ones cannot be accessed by the iDevices, the button to activate the 4G LTE connectivity being non-existent in iOS. The company in Hong Kong is now asking a court to verify the way in which the local regulator allowed Apple to apply such a policy there, and everything could end up in a lawsuit, if it turns out that Apple acted in violation of the law.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone 5 is blocked from connecting to the fourth-generation wireless networks of PCCW and China Mobile Ltd. (941), while the smartphone can connect to rivals' 4G high-speed networks, Hong Kong-based PCCW said in court documents obtained by Bloomberg News and dated Feb. 20... PCCW asked the regulator to investigate the locking of the smartphone, which restricts subscribers through SIM cards programmed to work with particular carrier networks, according to the documents.
Although the operators do not like this, Apple ultimately has the right to restrict access to networks that it considers to be non-compliant with its standards, the rationale being to protect itself against user complaints. iPhones could have inadequate functionality in these networks, Apple could be accused by customers of these problems and I think that Apple's lawyers will rely on this defense. In Romania, the iPhone 5 cannot connect to any local 4G LTE network due to the same policy, the iPad 4 and iPad Mini tablets can only connect to Orange Romania's 4G LTE network, the only one certified by Apple.
