Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: July 18, 2009 2:58:35 PM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers


July 17, 2009, 12:22 pm
Verizon Defends Exclusive Handsets, Except for Small Carriers
By Saul Hansell

Verizon Wireless is defending AT&T's right to keep the iPhone
to itself.

The company today announced a policy that it says will give small
wireless carriers more access to phones that Verizon had the
exclusive rights to sell. From now on, when Verizon strikes a deal
with a manufacturer for exclusive sale of a handset, it will let any
carrier with fewer than 500,000 customers sell the phone after six
months.

There has been increasing interest in Congress over whether wireless
carriers are hurting consumers by shutting out rivals from hot
phones. Of course, the hottest phone right now is Apple's iPhone,
which is sold only by AT&T in the United States.

It may not be a consumer issue. Much of the political pressure on the
issue is coming from smaller wireless carriers that worry that they
are being shut out from all the cool phones by a giant carrier.

...


http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/verizon-defends-exclusive-handsets-except-for-small-carriers/





-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com