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Justice Department eyeing AT&T - iPhone exclusive deal
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The Department of Justice is reviewing whether the exclusive deals large telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon have with popular phones promotes an anti-competitive market for smaller telecom companies. This includes the exclusive deal AT&T has with the iPhone in the US.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the case is bring brought by lawmakers and uses the Sherman Antitrust Act as its basis, which was used to bring an antitrust suit against Microsoft.
It's no secret that iPhone users have been clamoring to get out from under AT&T. They have been criticised on everything from limiting applications like SlingPlayer to connecting via Wi-Fi only to the delayed availability of tethering and MMS for the iPhone. As for Verizon, it could be a bit of a mixed blessing, since they'd lose exclusive deals but gain the ability to support the iPhone.
And those who dislike AT&T are not the only ones that will benefit from the exclusive deal being nixed by the government. The iPhone makes up a pretty big chunk of the mobile web. No doubt, people flocking to other carriers would actually free up a lot of bandwidth from AT&T's 3G network, thus providing a bonus for those who stay as well as those who go.
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