You know the drill -- iPhone 4 just went on sale in 17 additional countries so hit up your favorite speed test (I used the speedtest.net app) and let us know how the new HSUPA (high speed upload) radio is treating you.

(And if you're in the US and have just gotten yours fixed, let us know how that's working as well).

As the UK and France Apple Online Stores come back up and start taking iPhone 4 pre-orders again, it's worth noting that Apple is actually offering them SIM-free in those countries. That's right -- unlocked:

When you purchase your iPhone from the Apple Online Store, you’ll get it SIM-free. So you can sign up for service with the carrier of your choice and change your carrier at any time.

It's not cheap, mind you: £499/16GB and £599/32GB in the UK, and €629/16GB and €739/32GB in France. Canada will also have the SIM-free option but won't be offering the iPhone until July.

Any of our international readers taking that iPhone 4 unlocked option? Anyone looking to buy international and have it shipped home? (And if you see it SIM-free anywhere else, let us know!)

[Apple Online UK - Apple Online France]

Pre-orders for Apple's iPhone, set to debut in South Korea Saturday, have already hit 53,000 on carrier KT Corp. With a market of over 400,000 smartphone users and 47 million handset holders in general, and entrenched local competitors like Samsung and LG, AP quotes the former as saying it thinks Apple will "invigorate" things.

Very likely. The iPhone has apparently already caused SK Telecom, the largest in South Korea, to drop service prices for the Samsung Omnia. Apple has also shown the ability to turn dumbphone users into smart, so growing that 400,000 towards that 47 million is no doubt what KT Corp is really interested in.

If you're picking up an iPhone in South Korea, let us know how it works for you!

[Special thanks to cherryhead25 for previous iPhone in Korea tips!]

While the US continues to enjoy one single iPhone carrier, Canada is about to welcome their 4th (or 5th if you count Rogers subsidiary Fido as a separate carrier), and that carrier is Virgin Mobile:

Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the coming months. For more information on iPhone, please visit.

MobileSyrup pegs February 2010 as launch date for Virgin Mobile Canada, though they're still playing it coy with the old "coming months" line.

No word yet on how they'll advertise, but we bet Apple won't let them be as risque as BlackBerry... Either way, if you held off on Rogers/Fido, and kept waiting through Bell and Telus, is Virgin Mobile finally the provider for you?

Mike Ash (via Marco.org) makes this point following the FCC responses today:

Ignoring the question of why it’s Apple’s job to prevent their customers from breaking AT&T’s terms of service, it’s interesting to note just how much this policy is centered on the United States. The iPhone is sold in dozens of different countries and works with dozens of different cellular carriers all over the world. You can be certain that each one of those carriers has different terms of service. Why is AT&T so privileged that their terms of service, and theirs alone, are the ones that Apple looks at when deciding whether to reject or accept any given app? It’s quite likely that people all over the world are missing out on great iPhone apps that their cellular carriers would permit them to use just because AT&T does not permit Americans to use them.

This by way of saying, for example, because AT&T prohibits SlingPlayer from running over 3G, users in Canada (on Rogers), the UK (on 02), Japan (on SoftBank), etc. are also prevented from using SlingPlayer of 3G.

Apple certainly makes only specific mention of AT&T in their consideration process. However, AT&T was the first iPhone carrier signed, so perhaps there's something in that original deal that makes it so -- or is it just that Apple is headquartered in the US?

Now, presuming those other, international carriers aren't just sighing in relief that AT&T takes the hit on this so they don't have to (anyone think Rogers, O2, SoftBank, et al. are dying to take the network hit that comes with an uber-popular, functionality surfacing device like the iPhone doing high-bandwidth tasks like streaming TV shows and movies?

There are certainly examples enough of region-specific apps (AT&T's own apps are just in the US), and apps that are missing from just one regional app store (Skype is not in the Canadian App Store, reportedly due to a patent dispute).

As mentioned previously, Sling has submitted a 3G-enabled version of SlingPlayer for non-US App Stores (Canada, UK, Japan, etc.), so we'll soon see.

CNN Money's Fortune blog is rounding up news about a potential Apple deal with China Unicom to finally bring the iPhone to China.

The story is this: Shanghai Security News reported a 3-year deal for China Unicom's 600+ million subscriber base. China Unicom's spokesperson told Reuters:

"Discussions are still ongoing, we have not reached any formal agreement,"

The great unknowns, however, remain whether China will allow Wi-Fi, the full App Store, and other features rumored to be on China's "no go" list.

Apple, of course, still sells officially unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong and similar markets for those who can afford a premium for standard iPhone.

[Thanks to Andrew for the tip]

In a move designed to make even notorious Wi-Fi stripper Verizon seem liberal by comparison, China Mobile's outstanding demand that Apple strip the iPhone of both Wi-Fi and 3G if they want to sell to the worlds largest carrier just got an uncomfortable shot of "maybe" via Apple Insider:

while there's no concrete information to suggest Apple would agree to make such concessions, references to "ChinaBrick" discovered in betas of iPhone Software 3.0 leave room for debate.

Also at issue, China Mobile wants control of the regional App Store. Without 3G or Wi-Fi, would there even be a point?

And we'd joked about AT&T...

2008 has come and gone and Apple is still adding regions and carriers to their iPhone 3G rollout. This time it's the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia according to Macworld:

UAE-based provider Emirates Telecommunications—aka "Etisalat"—will be selling the iPhone and providing service to both countries "later this month." The deal was announced in an advertisement in an English-language paper in the region.

Meanwhile, long time iPhone carrier, Orange in France, has seen it's exclusivity arrangement shattered by French courts (the same ones that said Amazon was being anti-competitive by offering free shipping -- don't get me started!). Ars Technica weighs in:

According to a report by Bloomberg, France Télécom, Orange's parent company, was "shocked by this decision" and, naturally, intends to appeal. Bouygues Télécom, France's third-largest mobile carrier and the company that brought the original complaint to the Competition Council, told Bloomberg that "talks are under way" with Apple to secure a distribution agreement. Vivendi's SFR subsidiary, France's second-largest carrier, also intends to strike a deal with Apple to sell iPhones.

Ars thinks a similar challenge in the US could theoretically lead to T-Mobile carrying the iPhone, but it's TiPb's understanding that T-Mo USA (unlike their parents in Europe) doesn't use the same 3G bands and hence would be limited to EDGE-only iPhone service (likewise, during the Round Robin, we had to run the Android G1 on EDGE on AT&T and Rogers).

So, anyone in the UAE and SA plan on picking up an iPhone? Anyone in France psyched about more carrier choice? Let us know!

Apple said they would release the iPhone 3G in over 70 countries this year. They started off with 22 way back on July 11, added another 22 in August 22, and now it looks like they're planning on adding 29 more to the party starting September 26. According to Apple Insider, these include:

Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Russia, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey, and Venezuela.

Still no China, of course, along with Korea, or... Antarctica. Anyone else missing?