AT&T Seeking to Extend iPhone Exclusivity Deal

US operator, AT&T is reported to be pushing Apple to extend its exclusive rights to the iPhone range of handsets within the USA for an additional two years. The company secured the exclusivity when the handset was launched, and the contract is widely presumed to expire sometime next year.

Apple has radically altered its business model since it launched the original iPhone and tried to sign up exclusive deals in individual countries. The firm now seems a lot more relaxed about multiple networks offering the phones, and has bowed to the subsidy model which operates in many countries.

Citing people close to the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that the mobile network operator is seeking an extension to 2011. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment, saying only, "We have a great relationship with AT&T."

AT&T is understood to have invested some $1.3 billion in subsidy payments for the iPhone, which it is clawing back from the higher ARPU that the handset generates. The company has said it added 4.3 million iPhone subscribers in the second half of 2008 -- about 40% of whom were new to AT&T.

On the web: The Wall Street Journal

Posted to the site on 17th April 2009