The end of the 5-year exclusive deal between Orange France and Apple has come to a close much earlier than expected.  A French Competition Council has banned the exclusivity, saying that it has a negative effect on the competitiveness of the local mobile market and effectively allows the phone to be sold by SFR and Bouygues Telecom.  Now if only something similar could occur in the US so that T-mobile USA would have rights to sell the iPhone 3G we would really be on to something although the lack of a compatible 3G band would be a deal breaker for most. [NetEco]