It looks like Orange Austria has pulled off quite an extraordinary thing. All iPhone 5 phones offered at Orange Austria will be unlocked for all networks including its immediate competitors.

This is the first time we saw such an offer in mainland Europe. The iPhone 5 starts from €679, a good 100 euro more than the previous iPhone 4S, and Orange wants €299 for the phone with contract and 40 euro a month commitment for two years.

The company that is supposed to take over Orange Austria, 3 Austria offers the phone for 99 euro as long as you are willing to spend 45 euro a month. The new phone didn’t get a lot of good press in Europe due to iMaps issues and the 100 euro price hike, all over Europe Apple lovers are still quite excited to give their hard earned euros to Apple for LTE that anyone in Europe uses and slightly taller screen with an additional row of icons.

The fact that the phone is unlocked is definitely going to increase demand from people who will use their contract upgrades and sell them off on Ebay, being unlocked and all.