Engadget’s lawyer-turned-blogger, Nilay Patel, on the AT&T iPhone exclusivity deal:
The term of Apple and AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal has long been a mystery — although USA Today reported a five-year arrangement when the original iPhone came out in 2007, that number has never been independently confirmed, and it’s been looking suspect in recent weeks as Verizon iPhone chatter has gotten louder. But we’ve been doing some digging and we can now confirm that Apple and AT&T entered into a five-year iPhone exclusive in 2007, based on court documents filed by Apple in California.
Here’s the deal: an ongoing California class-action lawsuit filed in 2007 claims that Apple and AT&T illegally exerted a monopoly over iPhone service 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.
Just because the exclusivity contract may end in 2012 doesn’t mean they’ll be a Verizon-powered iPhone in 2013.