Orange strong player in French iPhone launch

Lest you forget, the world outside of the US is still twiddling its fingers waiting for the iPhone to drop.  Latest grist for the throbbing rumour mill concerns la belle France, home of cheese, berets and France Telecom, the company behind mobile carrier Orange.  Rumours are spanking out that a deal between Orange and Apple is nigh-on signed which would see the company sell the already-iconic handset in France, with pre-orders of over 50,000 iPhones made during late May or early June.

Sources talking to MacScoop have revealed that Orange went on the full offencive to win the iPhone contract, and in fact were so confident of their position that sales teams and marketing have been working on launch plans since last month.

The deal supposedly includes an as-yet undisclosed revenue percentage payable to Apple, with retail in Orange stores taking the "store inside a store" theme currently being played out in Best Buy stores in the US.

Neither Apple nor Orange have commented on the story.