Activate an Orange contract on an US iPhone

Yes, in the US you can use your SIM card (once activated inside the iPhone) in any US ATT phone.

You can NOT use your US iPhone overseas with any server other than ATT and pay roaming -- they remain locked to the country of origin.

All US iPhones that are being used overseas on other networks are SIM-unlocked, meaning they have voided their warranty and are not being used under appropriate contract with Apple and hence ineligible for support.

There is simply put, no way to "legally" change carriers overseas and just put in a SIM. You need to buy an all-new iPhone in the UK to use O2 for example.

jia10,

The iPhone models for the US, UK, France, and Germany have different model numbers.

Even if it were to work without software modification, it would not be a supported configuration.

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

Thanks Nathan +et al.+ That seems to be clear now.

There have been some rumors of Orange France agreeing to unlock phones from other countries when an Orange mobile subscription is taken out.

My brother in law who has a UK iphone, but spends 50% of his time in France, attempted to get Orange to sell him a contract, but they refused. So now he uses his iphone in UK, as the data roaming charges are horrendous.

Could you please tell me more about these rumors?
I bought my iPhone in October while working in the US. Unfortunately I cannot stay longer and I have to go back to France on May.

I'm going to take a voice+data plan at Orange. Is there a way I can officially switch from AT&T to Orange without unlocking the iPhone via a third-party software?

At this time, there is no way to do this and we're not allowed to discuss rumors on these forums.