iPhone: 5 year AT&T exclusive, no CDMA

Some interesting news came out of USA Today yesterday (oh, the irony); in a standard iPhone story, the publication quietly broke the news that the iPhone will be a five year exclusive for AT&T Wireless. "AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years--an eternity in the go-go cell phone world." You can say that again. What's more, "Apple is barred for that time from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks." This certainly dashes the hopes of any Verizon, Sprint or Alltel customers who had hoped they would be seeing the iPhone anytime soon--either officially through their carrier or as an unlocked CDMA handset. "I'm glad we have (the iPhone) in our bag," Stan Sigman, CEO of AT&T Wireless said. "Others will try to match it, but for a period of time, they're going to be playing catch-up."

Speaking of which, Verizon is apparently prepping a competitor to the iPhone, which will launch later this summer. "We do have a very good response in the mill," said Verizon COO Denny Strigl. "You'll see that from us in the late summer." There's no word yet on which hardware manufacturer Verizon is working with, though I'm sure we'll find out soon.

For more on the iPhone:
- see this USA Today article