How long is Cingular/AT&T Wireless the exclusive iPhone carrier in the US?
As noted in the press release promoting the agreement, Apple entered into a “multi-year partnership” for Cingular — later rebranded again as “Wireless from AT&T” — to exclusively provide cellular voice and data services for the iPhone. Steve Jobs explains that this is because Cingular is the “best and most popular carrier in the US”. Cingular certainly is the largest carrier in the United States, but no doubt some readers would debate whether or not Cingular really is the “best”. No official information regarding the precise length of the contract is available, but given that upon its introduction the iPhone was reported to require a two year contract with Cingular for service — although more recently, bloggers have been speculating that prepaid service may be available as well — it is a safe bet that the contract is for at least two years from June 2006 in the United States. However, CNN reported that the contract is “through 2009” and USA Today reports that it is for “five years”
