Consumers in Spain will be able to buy Firefox OS smartphones from tomorrow. Telefónica is going to sell the ZTE Open at its Movistar stores for €69 incl. VAT (£59) on pre-pay and ‘pay monthly’ tariffs.
This is expected to be followed by Deutsche Telekom selling the Alcatel One Touch Fire handset in Poland. It’s the first time mobile devices running Mozilla’s Firefox OS have been available directly to consumers.
Miguel Gilpérez, CEO of Telefónica España, said “We believe that smartphones need to be more open and that the web is the platform for making this possible. Consumers should not be locked to any one system but have the choice to consume the content they want and the flexibility to be able to take it with them when they change devices. This first open web device marks a significant milestone in making this possible. This is just the beginning as we plan to bring a wide range of Firefox OS devices to our customers.”
Jay Sullivan, Mozilla’s Chief Operating Officer, said “The launch of Firefox OS marks an incredibly exciting time for the Web. Firefox OS powers the first smartphones built entirely on Web technologies and will stimulate an inspiring new wave of innovation for the Web. We are proud to deliver an experience for first time smartphone users that will delight them and really put the power of the Web in people’s hands.”