iPhone in France: to Be or not to Be

Since one week, all news networks are discussing about this topic bringing their own exclusive information about it. According to sources, the iPhone will either arrive in France from November 15th till end of the year, or never. One can read that Steve Jobs is upset due to comments from Orange Execs Didier Lombard; or it might be the 30% return from subscription asked by Apple for finalizing the deal. Some are also mentioning the French law allowing SIM locking only for a short period (6 months) and then forcing carriers to unlock mobile.
Today, between rumors and true information, it is impossible to have a clear idea of the future of the iPhone in France. One can only claim that the iPhone will come in France one of those days, but the carrier might not be Orange...
For sure, such situation fuels the grey market for the iPhone. With Apple's last iPhone firmware update; it is so far impossible to unlock the device shipped with firmware 1.1.1. The price of iPhone featuring the original firmware ("hackable") are rocketing up, while business of Bladox, the company manufacturing Turbosim, are going well: this is so far the only way to use an iPhone based on firmware 1.1.1.