IPhone 3G Problem - Asking for replacement

Question

hello, first of all i live in an African Country, the iPhone 3G was recently launched by "ORANGE" here, i purchased one from the Orange store for Christmas and i am experiencing a lot of problems.
First of all when i was waiting for my iphone to be activated in the store, the employee said that they were experiencing problems with my iPhone 3G, to make a long story short, they replaced the sim card and the phone seemed to work.
after about a week of using the phone, i've noticed:
-some of my calls are being dropped randomly
-the metal frame around the plastic bit hasnt been glued (manufactured) properly, a fraction of a mm of light is emmiting from one side of the phones metal framework
-my phone randomly tells me theres' no service and then suddenly 10mins later i get full service (without moving the phone, the same happens with my wi-fi)
-my phone randomly goes on silent (the ringtone is on the loudest, and the silent "button" hasnt been activted)
Can someone give me advice on what i should do?
do i go to ORANGE and ask them to give me a new iPhone? what should i tell them exactly?
it's a first hand phone, i havn't dropped the phone, and yes i have already tried reformatting the phone, and i still have the same problems, and in case your wondering, NO i did not jailbreak my iPhone 3G - 8GB

Answer 1

called apple customer service and he said that's the agreement between apple and the carrier. he told me to call apple again on monday for further info.
this is annoying and lousy.
i recall my macbook which i purchased 1 year ago. keyboard got issue but no applecare in my hometown country. the only authorized premium reseller who also runs the service centre refused to repair unless i pay.
if this continues, most of the people concern is valid. it's a headache for after sales service for apple products ... no matter how advance, how nice and how great are the products, lousy after sales service will kick people away