Apple’s French mobile network partner Orange has sold 70,000 iPhones in the region in the first month of sale, the company has confirmed. The figure lies within its initially announced expectation that it would sell between 50,000 to 100,000 Apple mobile devices in the first few weeks of sale. Orange says that 48 percent of iPhone buyers were new subscribers, opening a new account with the carrier. 82 percent of customers signed up for an iPhone-specific service plan. The operator added that fewer than 3,500 customers chose to buy an unlocked iPhone, which is priced at up to €749. Orange began selling the iPhone on November 28 2007.

Meanwhile U.K. operator O2 has said that it will have connected 200,000 iPhones by early January, a figure in line with its own expectations. Around 60 percent of iPhone buyers are new O2 customers. The third European operator to offer the iPhone – Germany’s T-Mobile – is yet to unveil official numbers or forecasts.