Engadget.com has got the inside scoop of the initial AT&T & Apple infamous exclusivity deal. Thanks to a California class-action lawsuit, the official timeframe of this deal has been brought to light. This deal has been rumored to be anywhere from two years to God knows what. Check the quotes below from Apple:
“The duration of the exclusive Apple-[AT&T] agreement was not ‘secret’ either. The [plaintiff] quotes a May 21, 2007 USA Today article – published over a month before the iPhone’s release – stating, “AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years-an eternity in the go-go cellphone world.”
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“[T]here was widespread disclosure of [AT&T’s] five-year exclusivity and no suggestion by Apple or anyone else that iPhones would become unlocked after two years… Moreover, it is sheer speculation – and illogical – that failing to disclose the five-year exclusivity term would produce monopoly power…”
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“[T]here was widespread disclosure of [AT&T’s] five-year exclusivity and no suggestion by Apple or anyone else that iPhones would become unlocked after two years… Moreover, it is sheer speculation – and illogical – that failing to disclose the five-year exclusivity term would produce monopoly power…”
It is unknown whether or not with the new 3G iPad data plans through AT&T, has changed the terms of the deal. If all is still the same as the initial deal, Verizon may not see their iPhone until at least 2012.
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