Apple bound to AT&T until 2010?
For those that dislike AT&T’s service, it appears as if they’ll have to wait two more years before the iPhone hits other US carriers. According to sources reporting to USA Today, Apple is bound to its exclusivity deal with AT&T until at least 2010. AT&T, in exchange for deep subsidies on the device, asked Apple to extend the exclusivity one year longer than its previous 2009 end date. The extension marks a victory for AT&T, as the phone is a bargaining chip for potential buyers in a saturated cell phone market.
It will be quite interesting to see what happens as 2010 approaches. T-Mobile has just announced the expansion of 3G in other select markets besides New York City, and Verizon and Alltel will be migrating to Long Term Evolution (LTE) as their network technology. AT&T has also committed to the 4G LTE standard, making a potential 4G Apple iPhone compatible with the three aforementioned networks.
[via Electronista]
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