Rumor: AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity to end Wednesday

Although it’s amusing to think of a scenario in which the Internet threw a hype party for the a device that never came, it would be a sucker bet indeed to gamble that Apple won’tl announce a tablet-like device on January 27th. That said, the Tablet can’t be the only thing Apple has up its sleeves for Wednesday, and Hot Hardware is claiming that the media event will herald another much anticipated announcement from Apple: the end of AT&T iPhone exclusivity in the United States.

The rumor comes by way of an anonymous source within AT&T. They don’t have any details about what carriers we can expect to see the iPhone on if carrier exclusivity does indeed end, but according to Hot Hardware’s source, this might actually be a welcome development for AT&T, since having iPhone exclusivity has essentially crippled AT&T’s underdeveloped 3G network, with no end in sight. Although the iPhone has made AT&T incredibly profitable, it’s also generated such extreme bad press that their recent advertising efforts have been almost solely dedicated to fighting off network attacks.

In short, ending iPhone exclusivity might not just be a welcome development for Apple, who could then double or even triple the numbers of iPhones they sell, but for AT&T, would be given more breathing room in upgrading their 3G network to cope with growing demand. It’s also a huge win for consumers, who will be able to choose their network and pay less for their service and their phones as network iPhone competition drives prices down. A win for everyone!

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It’s an interesting rumor, but I’m not inclined to believe it, if only because of the timing: it seems like an announcement more likely to be made at Apple’s iPhone-oriented media events in June than as an afterthought announcement during the Tablet frenzy.

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John Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in iPhone, News |

Adam
PLEASE let it be over! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I already use my iPhone on T-Mobile.. but it would be nice to have a few missing features…
Charli
it is important to note that bit about ATT’s underdeveloped network. they gambled that the phone wouldn’t go big and weren’t prepared for it. they lost. and now they are trying to blame the phone (which in fact is not defective etc). plus make out that they want to drop the phone cause it’s ruining their wonderful network, perhaps so they don’t seem bitter when it comes out that Apple didn’t extend their contract due to their inabilities.
as for Wednesday, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It would seem more logical that the clocked started when the actual phone was released. Not when the phone was announced. And I can’t imagine that the contract would allow Apple to announce the cut off 5-6 months in advance, shutting down future subscriptions to ATT (which might have to play out or pay out their contract to gave any official unlocking).
I think that on Wednesday we might get the tablet announced with an unlocked sim (as an option and not a requirement I hope) and perhaps even both CDMA and GSM. And then at WWDC when the next phone is announced we’ll find out that the iphone, which is remaining GSM only, will join the tablet as an unlocked device. All new phones will be sold unlocked and existing phones will be unlocked under 4.0, however to change services, users will have to complete their existing contract or cancel with all appropriate ETFs etc.