Shocker: AT&T Wants To Keep Sitting On Its Golden Egg (The iPhone)
April 14, 2009 at 21:45 PM EDT
When Apple was looking for a mobile partner for the iPhone, it originally went to Verizon. When Verizon turned down the device due to some of Apple's demands, Apple turned to AT&T, which worked out an exclusive deal with Apple to provide service for the device. Smart move. Over 17 million iPhones have been sold since the device debuted less than two year ago -- the majority of which have been in the US through AT&T. Following the launch of the iPhone 3G last year, Apple and AT&T met again to look at their partnership. The two sides decided to extend the pact until 2010. But that apparently isn't good enough for AT&T which now wants to extend its exclusive deal into 2011, The Wall Street Journal reports .