The US computer group Apple and French mobile-telephone operator Orange are abandoning an exclusive sales deal for the iPhone in France, the French competition authority said on Tuesday.

The proposal from the two groups, to satisfy objections from the competition authority, means the end of a five-year deal giving exclusive distribution rights in France to Orange.

The regulator, which published the commitment from the two companies, had applied an emergency decision to this effect in December, 2008.

It held that the exclusivity terms "could introduce a new factor of rigidity into a sector that is already suffering from a lack of competition."

A Paris appeals court upheld the decision in February of this year. The initial objection was brought by French operator Bouygues, which was then joined by the third main operator SFR and by a leading consumer rights group UFC-Que Choisir.

The regulator said on Tuesday that Apple had undertaken not to give exclusive rights to any telecom operator or equipment wholesaler to sell the iPhone in France.

The only exception to this concerned contracts not exceeding three months. The regulator said that three-month exclusivity was reasonable to cover launch costs.

And Orange had undertaken not to claim that it had exclusive rights either as a wholesaler or operator of mobile telephone services.

Neither would Orange include exclusivity clauses into contracts with Apple for contracts for periods exceeding three months.

Orange would therefore bring all its contracts with Apple concerning exclusive use of iPhone products into line with these principles, the regulator said.

The authority said that it was publishing these proposed commitments so that interested parties could comment on them. If they were considered satisfactory, they would be made obligatory and the case would be closed.