Apple kills GPS function to get iPhone on sale in Egypt

Cairo's ban on satellite navigation technology means Egyptian customers have to make do without key feature
Apple iPhone
The only way to get hold of a GPS-enabled iPhone in Egypt will be to get one on the black market. Photograph: AP

Since it went on sale this summer, Apple's iPhone 3G has proved a sensation, selling almost 5m handsets worldwide in just a few months and becoming the most popular mobile phone in America.

But, as the Californian company prepares to start selling the award-winning gadget in Egypt, thousands of users there will have to go without one of the gadget's star features: satellite navigation.

Thanks to strict rules on the use of GPS technology enforced by the Egyptian government, Apple is the latest company being forced to rip the ability to use satnav and mapping out of its gadget.

The ban on the import of all GPS-enabled devices into Egypt is based on the claim that it is a military-grade technology that can be used to help pinpoint the location of government buildings or used by terrorists.

As a result, Egyptian iPhone buyers will not be able to use GPS, and are expected to pay a higher price for the privilege: around 3800 Egyptian pounds (£463) compared to a maximum of £149 in the UK, plus contract.

According to documents filed on Apple's website, "GPS is not available while in Egypt, or when using an Egyptian phone", which "is consistent with Egyptian law regarding GPS enabled devices". The company did not respond to a request for further comment.

Apple is not the first company to fall foul of the GPS ban, which has been in place for five years. The Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia has been locked in negotiations with the government to allow it to import and sell its range of GPS-enabled handsets, but so far Cairo has not budged.

Despite the strict rules, it is legal for some government-approved companies to make satellite navigation devices for licensed purposes. In addition, if GPS-enabled gadgets are brought into the country they continue to function properly, creating a thriving black market in satellite navigation gizmos and high-end mobile phones.



Geens said he had regularly used GPS while travelling in remote parts of the country, but that he had witnessed the authorities question anyone about the technology.

"In a sense it's a failure of keeping up with technology - I don't think it's a conspiracy," he said.

The authorities in Egypt have a notoriously testy relationship with new technology, having previously banned satellite dishes in the 1980s.

The government has also struggled with the explosion of internet use in the country, particularly the rise of blogging. In recent years a string of bloggers have been arrested and imprisoned because of what they had written, many of them charged with illegally criticising the president or inciting religious hatred.

GPS is not a new technology that has taken Cairo by surprise, however. Global Positioning System was first created by the US government for military purposes, but was opened up to the public 25 years ago. Syria and North Korea are the only other countries in the world thought to have banned the technology.

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