Author
Cody Sharp
Engadget reports that Apple had had an exclusive contract with AT&T since 2007. In fact, we know this because of a class action lawsuit that was brought against Apple due to monopolistic behavior. After all, the argument read, if you bought the original iPhone in 2007 and signed up for a 2 year contract, you were really signing up for a 5 year contract since Apple had an exclusive deal with AT&T. Unfortunately, that court case is still ongoing but it makes one thing clear – there will be no iPhone HD for the Verizon network.
3 months ago, we wrote an article about the likelihood of Apple brining their new phone to the Verizon network. At the time, all signs pointed to it happening. After all, rumors were all over the net that Verizon had begun working on an iPhone prototype. It also made sense because Verizon’s network is the biggest in the United States and for all intents and purposes, gives people much better connectivity to their 3G network than AT&T. All of that now looks like a moot point because of the long standing contract that has been in place for 3 years and will remain for another two.
Contracts certainly do have the possibility of being broken. AT&T has to live up to their end of the contractual agreement and with all of the problems their network has had, who knows if that has been the case. So one glimmer of hope for an iPhone on the Verizon network would be that AT&T doesn’t live up to the expectations outlined in the agreement and Apple will be able to revoke the contract. That being said, there is little doubt that AT&T will be putting all of their weight into making sure that doesn’t happen.