“The biggest U.S. mobile service said on Friday it will limit exclusivity periods with cellphone makers to six months and then allow the country’s smallest wireless service providers to sell the devices,” Bartz and Carew report.
“Exclusivity deals are common among the biggest U.S. carriers but have recently faced strong opposition from small, rural carriers, which say they lack the clout to make deals to carry the most popular advanced phones,” Bartz and Carew report.
“The iPhone has drawn such deals into the spotlight because AT&T Inc ., the second biggest U.S. wireless service, has had exclusive U.S. rights with Apple Inc. since 2007,” Bartz and Carew report.
“In an apparent effort to preempt any regulatory changes, Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, sent a letter to major lawmakers on July 17 offering to limit exclusivity,” Bartz and Carew report.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sending such a letter is very easy to do when nobody wants the “exclusive” devices that you’re trying to pawn off as iPhones.
