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Apple has been ordered by the French competition regulator to allow sales of its iPhone through more than one operator, stripping Orange of its exclusive right to sell the handset in France. Rivals, including SFR, in which Vodafone has a 44 per cent stake, will be able to stock the coveted device.

The decision raises questions over whether other countries could follow suit. In the UK, O2, owned by Telefónica, has an exclusive iPhone deal.

SFR said after the ruling that it hoped to start selling the iPhone in the next few hours. Bouygues Télécom, which made the initial complaint to the regulator over the Apple deal, said that it intended to sell the iPhone as soon as possible. Sources said that SFR had contacted Apple and was awaiting a reply.

The Competition Council said that Orange's five-year exclusive deal with Apple was “clearly excessive” and risked “serious and immediate damage to competition on the mobile market and to consumers”. The decision was aimed at allowing customers to buy the iPhone with a contract from rival operators in time for the Christmas sales.

Orange, owned by France Télécom, said that it would appeal. It added that it put France “in a radically different situation” from that of other countries, including Britain, Spain, Germany and the United States, where operators have exclusive agreements with Apple.

Legal experts in Britain said that although competition law is consistent in principle across EU states, so that O2's deal with Apple could be challenged, any such dispute would depend on an assessment of UK market conditions, which differ from those in France.

Orange has more than 40 per cent of the French mobile market, outstripping the other two operators. By contrast, in the UK there are five operators, and O2, the leading provider, has 19.1 million customers, compared with Vodafone's 18.7 million.

Mike Conradi, a partner with Kemp Little, the law firm, said: “There's no reason that just because they've reached that decision in France that the regulator or the courts would reach the same decision in the UK.”

Ofcom said that it was not investigating any tie-ups between handset makers and mobile phone companies.

Apple and France Télécom face a fine if they defy the ruling, the regulator said.

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