AT&T’s 5-Year Apple iPhone Contract Finally Confirmed

Although Apple’s iPhone is an extremely popular device there is a major complaint about it. The iPhone is only available through AT&T, which is generally known as the network with the most dropped calls. I can definitely confirm this accusation. The two years that I was stuck with AT&T’s service were horrible. I’ve never had so many dropped calls before.

There have been rumors for quite some time that AT&T had a 5-year exclusive agreement with Apple to secure the iPhone with their service, but not until now has there been complete confirmation of this rumor. There has even been an ongoing class-action lawsuit in California that claims that AT&T and Apple have created an illegal monopoly with the exclusivity of the iPhone.

Now that the original iPhone has been released for about three years, proof has finally surfaced to confirm the rumors that have been circling lately. Engadet states: "[The accused monopoly was established] by telling customers the iPhone's required service contract was two years long when the Apple / AT&T exclusivity deal was actually for five years--thus requiring buyers to re-up with AT&T for three years (and not, say, T-Mobile) if they wanted to keep using the iPhone."

In response, AT&T and Apple say, “The duration of the exclusive Apple-[AT&T] agreement was not 'secret' either.” They quote from a May 21, 2007 USA Today article, that was published over a month before the iPhone's release, that states, "AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years-an eternity in the go-go cellphone world."

Unfortunately, it seems that there is not really anything that iPhone users can do. They just going to be stuck with AT&T service for the next couple years. Once the AT&T/iPhone contract is up, it will be really interesting the see who wins the fight over the rights to Apple’s iPhone.