AT&T iPhone exclusivity extended to 2010?

Apple's deal with AT&T obviously got re-done in order to get the iPhone 3G on the street for a subsidized $199, but it looks like Steve gave in on a little more than revenue-sharing when he re-upped with Ma Bell: USA Today says that AT&T's US exclusive on the iPhone has been extended for an additional year, until 2010. The extension isn't officially announced, but it's being cited in the context of a long interview with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who's quoted as saying things like "The iPhone has repositioned AT&T as the premier wireless brand in the world." So yeah, dude's a fan -- and with iPhone customers spending almost double on rate plans than the average AT&T customer, it's not hard to see why. Looks like our dream of glorious data plan price wars will have to wait until Android makes a splash later this year.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[RCL1221 @ Aug 1st 2008 6:15PM]

Oh hell no!

I guess my jailbroken 2.5G iPhone will be lasting me a bit longer.

[pinke123 @ Aug 1st 2008 9:22PM]

does the T-Mobile iPhone from other countries work on USA T-Mobile?

[E71 @ Aug 1st 2008 9:56PM]

Ridiculously long exclusivity periods. One good reason not to purchase any iCrap.

[nerdtalker @ Aug 2nd 2008 4:44AM]

Ugh, why would they do this? AT&T (aka Death Star) is the reason I can't stand the otherwise flawlessly attractive iPhone.

Death Star is beyond awful. Death Star lies, Death Star cheats, Death Star extorts, Death Star delivers more bars of fail in more places.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 2nd 2008 7:07AM]

Apple decided to extend the contract with AT&T because Foxconn would have had a hard time producing 30 million iPhones this year. If the iPhone 3G was available through T-Mobile, almost everyone on planet Earth would be buying the amazing iPhone since they wouldn't have a reason not to. As it is, Apple can barely keep up with supplying AT&T due to high demand, so currently there'd be little point offering it's use through T-Mobile.

Patience, my young T-Mobile padawans. The Apple Council will accept you in due time as you still have a bit more to learn about the Kool-Aid.

[resource @ Aug 1st 2008 6:15PM]

Fuck, I was hoping they'd actually cut the contract short when they realized that many people will just NOT sign with ATT...

Come on T-MO give me one good phone!

[V.I. @ Aug 1st 2008 6:28PM]

LOL! Resource, you're not the only one begging T-Mobile to open up
the pipe! I'm trying to wait till end of October to see how their 3G
comes about and if they get the MDA Vario II aka Raphael aka Touch
Pro. Its either the Touch Pro or an unlocked Nokia N96 for me.

I'm on Sprint and have the Mogul. I should've never left T-Mobile last year. I was on T-Mobile for 7 years, while with them 2 of my phones came from EBay unlocked.

T-Mobile has a wack phone selection, but not as wack as US Cellular...

[Josh @ Aug 1st 2008 9:02PM]

Yeah... I think Apple and AT&T are quaking in their boots from the lack of iPhone 3G users. It's not like they didn't register a million phones in the first weekend.

[HOOPER @ Aug 1st 2008 6:16PM]

Why would Apple choose to extend the deal? Obviously they know people aren't happy about AT&T being the only carrier, since now they make you activate your iPhone in-store to prevent jailbreaking. WHAT IS THE DEAL

[p3t3b2 @ Aug 1st 2008 8:34PM]

Or they realize the iphone is not doing as well as they thought, Apple may have sold 1 million... That's One million to the CARRIERS worldwide, the number of 3rd party sales to customers is much-much lower, worldwide!

[Lowest Ranked @ Aug 1st 2008 6:16PM]

Doesn't restricting your products to one country have negative effects?

I really should have taken that business marketing class. Or any class for that matter.

[The Dude @ Aug 1st 2008 8:40PM]

It depends on the position you're in. If you have a phone that a lot of people will/do want then a carrier might be willing to give you sizable kickbacks to let them be the exclusive carrier. That's what's going on. By 2010, the iPhone will have already saturated the market and AT&T can afford to have competing carriers. By then most people who wanted an iPhone will have already gotten one...with AT&T. It's not like AT&T isn't making assloads of cash, either. With the heavily subsidized price as the bait, they make certain (expensive) contractual plans obligatory to get the phone.

[Monkee @ Aug 1st 2008 6:17PM]

I thought Apple had a 5-year exclusitivity agreement in the first place starting in 2007. Wouldn't that make it last until at least 2012?

[Camperton @ Aug 1st 2008 6:28PM]

That's what I thought too.

[Eric @ Aug 1st 2008 6:28PM]

No. It was originally until 2009, or at least that was the deal with cingular when Stevy was looking for a carrier.

[Randy @ Aug 1st 2008 6:53PM]

In other words, NO ONE HAS ANY FREAKING IDEA!

the contract is confidential, no one has anything official!

[Freakin Ijit @ Aug 1st 2008 8:02PM]

> ...the contract is confidential, no one has anything official!

That needs repeating.

The contract is confidential; no one has anything official.

And furthermore...

BOTH "rumored exclusivity periods" rumors were STARTED by the SAME source!

Which one?

Why USA Today, of course!

T-Mobile could get the iPhone (non3G) tomorrow, for all we know.

[Freakin Ijit @ Aug 1st 2008 8:15PM]

Oh good grief. I just read the USA article.

NOW it says the original contract was for only two years!

>>> ...Under the original iPhone contract, Apple had the right to offer the
>>> device to other carriers beginning in 2009...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2008-07-31-att-iphone-stephenson-apple_N.htm

This is what USA Today, SAME author, said before:

>>> ...AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2007-05-21-at&t-iphone_N.htm

Ain't that a kick!? Every single citing of that "5 year exclusive contract" came from the same USA Today author and now he/she has quietly changed it!

Lol!

[brian @ Aug 1st 2008 8:29PM]

Shhhhh! Don't remind them.

[Dull @ Aug 2nd 2008 1:00AM]

Is this what your talking about?

Apple's iPhone deal must have been pretty sweet for Cupertino to guarantee their new hotness to AT&T and AT&T alone for five friggin years. USA Today

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/22/apple-iphone-on-atandt-for-five-years/

[d @ Aug 1st 2008 6:20PM]

Carrier Unlocked or not at all. What is wrong with this company (excluding all computers, iPods and software)?

[Manuel @ Aug 1st 2008 6:22PM]

Other than lack for Flash support, the only other gripe I have with the iPhone is the carrier. Guess I'll have to wait another year to buy an iPhone. Hope Sprint Sero plan lasts until 2010.

[Dave @ Aug 1st 2008 7:04PM]

The carrier? Verizon was approached first with the iPhone but rejected it because it wasn't profitable enough, so what does that tell you about what their service contracts would be like?

[johnmc @ Aug 1st 2008 7:15PM]

Uh, the iPhone is a GSM based device (which makes more sense globally), so you're kind of out of luck with the whole Sprint thing.

[fini @ Aug 1st 2008 8:15PM]

what he meant to say was he was hoping for A CDMA version. Since apple went to verizon first, that means there must be a CDMA prototype out there waiting to be unveiled once this stupid exclusivity ends.

[Camperton @ Aug 1st 2008 6:27PM]

If they aren't careful this could be apple/ms in the early 90's all over again only on the mobile side and with google playing the ms part.

[Decoy @ Aug 3rd 2008 9:12PM]

Why isn't Netscape available on the pre-loaded iPhone apps?

[Eric @ Aug 1st 2008 6:32PM]

Not that I have anything aganist AT&T persay, but I just wish there was a little more competition to keep prices down on my phone bill. That's probably my main reason for not upgrading to the 3G... That extra 10 bucks a month was not looking to pretty in my book.

[Dave @ Aug 1st 2008 7:08PM]

I will second the argument on price competitiveness. This is essentially an oligopoly but even worse because there are only two real competitors (ATT and VZW).

But to people who complain about the iPhone's pricing not being competitive, I have absolutely NO sympathy. You chose to buy this phone and pay the premium rather than choose another phone that does as much (or more, read: ATT Tilt) and pay less per month for it. That's the price you pay for being "cool" and "trendy", you tool.

[CraigJ @ Aug 1st 2008 7:48PM]

The problem is, that the US is huge geographically, and to properly compete would require a $100B+ investment. AT&T maintains over 50k cell sites (which by all accounts are not enough). Just the towers themselves cost something like $200K to install, then you have to lease the land, install and maintain the radios, interconnect them, set up regional data centers to process everything, and hire people to handle all that, and have enough cash reserves to make it through the first few years to profitability.

There is a reason AT&T has 307,550 employees and $280B of assets on its balance sheet.

I guess my point is, it probably ain't gonna happen. It's more likely we'll have AT&T and Verizon in 10 years, and no one else. Hell, if they buy off the right people we might end up with AT&V.

[KyleC @ Aug 1st 2008 6:36PM]

Noooooos! *tear what a dumb decision on Apple's part, multiple carrier agreements would allow for soooo many more users and sales

[taz @ Aug 1st 2008 6:44PM]

I thought it was originally a 5 year deal until 2012 too... but if it's 2010 well I foresee Apple having done the right thing to start
1- milk the carrier exclusivity for a couple years (hell, Tmobile is bungling along anyhow)
2 - make the phone's price reasonable through the subsidy model
3 - don't complicate the hardware; use the one largest standard (GSM) and screw the bit players. Yes Verizon is huge here in the U.S. but globally CDMA is of minor impact.
4- and BAM in 2010 when both AT&T and Verizon have hopefully migrated to LTE hardware path, release the phone globally unlocked when your production has scaled in the 10's of millions and don't need the carriers subsidy. The price will remain the same as is now, but no contract, and that I believe is a pricing model Nokia, Samsung, and their ilk cannot compete

[Justin @ Aug 1st 2008 6:48PM]

Being an ATT customer before I bought the iPhone, I just want to say that my bill hasn't changed at all... let alone be twice what the typical customer pays.

As far as exclusivity, how people think this is a bad thing for Apple boggles my mind. They sold out of the damn phone - where would they get the idea people don't want to switch to ATT? Like I said, my bill changed by next to nothing.

[Razor @ Aug 1st 2008 10:32PM]

The cost of the monthly plans is what is holding me back from getting one. I pay just over $50/month after taxes with Sprint for 700 anytime minutes, unlimited data, and 100 text messages. I haven't tried to restructure my deal with Sprint in years because I'm happy with it. After taxes my potential AT&T plan will be close to doubled after taxes and I'll only have 450 minutes/month.

[Eric B. @ Aug 1st 2008 6:49PM]

I was gonna get it when Verizon snapped up the deal but I guess I'm gonna have to get a LG Dare. Never said I'm dissapointed ;)

[Eric @ Aug 1st 2008 6:51PM]

You will be when you use that phone for a couple of days. :( sorry.

[Sean @ Aug 1st 2008 6:50PM]

Don't worry.
By 2010 AT&T will have gobbled up all of the other U.S. carriers by then, so we won't need to switch providers to get it!

[dcny @ Aug 1st 2008 8:05PM]

Damn I was about to say that by 2012

Verizon buys alltel, sprint.

At&t buys all other gsm carriers excluding T mobile.

T Mobile just collaspes

Verizon and At&t switch to LTE, At&t & Verizon Merge then Welcome back Ma Bell

[Fed @ Aug 1st 2008 6:51PM]

Wow...AT&T is just raping people even more, its just sickening!
First off the iphone is lame, its old news, by 2010 it'll be as cool as a furby.
The fact people are still drooling over the iphone or even the 3G version make me laugh inside.

Go ahead, keep paying sky high prices for your AT&T plan and keep telling yourself that showing off your iphone in public makes you that much cooler.

[Andrew @ Aug 1st 2008 7:03PM]

Tell me... I want Chilis tonight. What's the closest Chilis to your house? And can you call in an order for me? How long would that take you? Because it took me 30 seconds from the time I turned on the phone, until I could have clicked the phone number and called.

How about a movie time? Lets see... how about... The Dark Knight, when is the next showing? Let me take a look... Oh, in 2 minutes at 7pm, that won't work, again at 8:15, that's better. That took 15 seconds to look up.

What's my point? I've had plenty of other phones. I've had phones that were more "powerful", but BY FAR, the best part about the iPhone is the App Store. Regardless of whether apps COULD be developed for WM, or anything else, no one else could get a backing like Apple could. These are the kind of things that make the iPhone as amazing as it is.

[Zak @ Aug 1st 2008 7:12PM]

The iPhone has only been out for a year or so. People still drool over older phones, so how is the iPhone old by comparison? By 2010 you can bet your ass there will be at the very least a whole new iPhone if not a new device entirely - or maybe a couple of them. What, you think Apple is just going to sit around doing nothing?

As far as the sky high prices from AT&T - you've never seen a high end phone with an unlimited data plan from any carrier before, have you? Go check it out, they're all about the same, or even more. AT&T was charging these prices for high end phones before the iPhone even came out, and so was Sprint, Verizon, etc.

[Mike @ Aug 1st 2008 7:35PM]

Uh, having lived in the same town for over 9 years, I know exactly where to find the closest Chili's (its location really doesn't change that often).

And when was the last time I called in an order to a restaurant before going there to eat? Hmm, never...

How about a movie time? Well, that takes me about 15 seconds on my obviously inferior non-iPhone (don't worry, I know where the theater is). And I've been able to achieve that astounding feat for the last two years or so.

What's *my* point? Unless you live in a TV commercial, or are a wandering nomad, many of the "killer" features of an iPhone actually aren't that useful or have been available on other platforms for quite some time.

As for whether apps could (hypothetically, in some far off universe) be developed for a WM phone, what actually is your point? There are thousands of apps available right now for WM phones, and I don't have to sign my life away to AT&T and Apple in order to use them. Third party apps are not a distinguishing feature of any platform (actually, the availability of 3rd party apps -- or lack thereof -- *was* a distinguishing feature of the previous generation iPhone; it's nice that Apple only took a year to fix that).

Written from a Mac...

M.

[Zak @ Aug 1st 2008 7:58PM]

Uh, Mike, I think you may have missed the point a bit. Obviously if you already know where you're going, the multitude of features on the iPhone that help you find things isn't going to help. Your argument is akin to saying you don't need GPS because you already know where your house is. That's not the point.

The point is to help you find things that you don't already know the location of. Makes more sense when you think about it that way, doesn't it? I used my iPhone to find and pre-order food so I could pick it up on my way home just last week. It works, and it works well.

Just like with anything else, the fact that you don't find a feature useful doesn't mean it's not useful for other people. Believe it or not, different people have different needs - and the iPhone was designed for what Apple saw as the majority of average people. I don't think they were far off at all.

[Andrew @ Aug 1st 2008 8:14PM]

You obviously just live your life to hate the iPhone then, because no one would logically say that apps on WM compare to the apps of the iPhone. I've had a WM phone for quite a while. I was one of the people that showed off that it could do everything an iPhone can, and then some. Then the new iPhone came out, I got it, and there is no comparison. If you hang around places like XDA-Developers, you can get a few decent apps. Overall, most are crap. I'm not saying this because I like the iPhone, but because I was a WM user pissed off at the potential of WM and the junk that was on it.

Also, my examples were exactly that, examples. Perhaps you do know where the closest Chilis is to your house, but when you're in another town, or at a relatives or friends house, you probably won't. And that's just restaurants, the same can apply to any other store or company you need to locate and/or call, since I guess you don't order to go, or had to make reservations at some place nice. And that's just the Yellow Pages app, which is probably my favorite value added app for the phone.

It's about what is easy and enjoyable to use. Can you do anything on your WM phone? Sure, but 9 times out of 10, it's going to take a few more steps to do the same things. There is no standardization. Very few apps have a friendly and easy to use interface, that allows you to do whatever you want, then click links (phone numbers, addresses, web or street, emails, etc) that automatically pop up the next program that you want so that you don't have to dig around for it yourself.

I was genuinely skeptical at first. Hell, I developed apps for WM if I wanted something more. However, after using the iPhone, even in the less than a month that the App Store has been live, it already has a ton more quality apps than any other phone has. The ease and enjoyment of use is MUCH higher than with any other phone.

Also, I fail to see how you "sign your life away". The only signing you do is a contract for a subsidized phone, just like you would have done on another carrier. And if you didn't want to do that, the iPhone is supposed to be sold un-subsidized eventually.

As for not having apps being "exclusive" to the first gen iPhone... First, I won't argue anything for the pre-2.0 iPhone. I think it was worthless before. Hell, I think the first gen is still worthless since it will never have 3G or GPS, two very important features now days. But second, aside from smartphones, almost every other phone before only had worthless java apps, and most smartphones have a hodge podge (hmmm... don't think I've ever typed that before) or apps written by the most terrible developers in the world. Like I said before, there are very few really good apps for other smart phones. No other phone compares to the quality and quantity of apps for the iPhone, and you and I both know that the iPhone will be the leader in that market for quite a while until other phones gain ground as a consumer product and fire up the market.

Bottom line, I told myself that my WM phone was just as good, or better when I had it as well. Now that I have an iPhone, I could make a list a mile long about how most of that isn't really true. As I said, the ability to do anything is obviously there, but it's rarely enjoyable on other smartphones like it is on an iPhone. You owe yourself to really and truly take a look at one open minded, and I promise you will love it.

Oh, and calm down a little. I don't know why you sound so angry at me/the iPhone. I'm just giving examples as to why people like the phone and why it isn't worthless. Just a friendly conversation, no need to get upset.

[Andrew @ Aug 1st 2008 8:16PM]

Whoa, that was huge, haha, sorry. Just trying to explain my position. I'm a bit of a long winded typer. :D

[Joppa @ Aug 1st 2008 8:17PM]

Gee Andrew, Zak, there is only like EVERY OTHER PHONE that can do the same thing and has for a couple years. What is it with iphone users who think they have the only phone that has features when in reality their phone is lacking in features that many other phones have had for years? You all live in a bubble and pay the price for not knowing any better, yet think you know it all because your phone has a bigger screen. iDiots.

[Andrew @ Aug 1st 2008 8:26PM]

Joppa, you're proof of what closed mindedness can do to a person.

[Mike10010100 @ Aug 2nd 2008 12:47PM]

Guess what? With Handmark express and Telenav, I can get the exact same information that you just got in the same amount of time! And these applications work on all Windows Mobile phones!

And i can tether! For free! With a well-working app! WMWifi router.

[Kaiser-Machead @ Aug 1st 2008 6:56PM]

Fuck it. I'm gonna just enjoy my SE W810i and forget this mess. I'll look again when I no longer have to deal with this AT&T bullshit.

[Magallanes @ Aug 1st 2008 9:35PM]

lol, the f-word.