I've always wondered this...how come AT&T and Verizon Wireless are the only carriers in the USA to have the iPhone available to its customers? Why can't T-Mobile, Sprint, Boostmobile, etc. not have the iPhone? 
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Carrier question?
- Thread starter iBoyfriend
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Strategy. Think about it. When Verizon finally got the iPhone - by then 8 month old hardware - it was all anyone talked about.
Strategy. Think about it. When Verizon finally got the iPhone - by then 8 month old hardware - it was all anyone talked about.
I've always wondered this...how come AT&T and Verizon Wireless are the only carriers in the USA to have the iPhone available to its customers? Why can't T-Mobile, Sprint, Boostmobile, etc. not have the iPhone?
Because in exchange for exclusivity, AT&T gave apple a ton of kickbacks. Probably a similar thing happened with Verizon when they finally got it, or it was just an advertising thing.
Apple also got a lot of concessions from AT&T in terms of what they got to put on the phone. AT&T wasn't able to customize any software or add in their stupid bloatware like they (and everyone else) usually does. This may have been a sticking point early on.