AT&T Gets a Fuzzy Signal on Apple’s iPhone

by Jody Mitoma on September 2, 2009 at 11:40 am

Did AT&T get a sour apple when it snagged the iPhone?

[Wall Street Journal] Maybe. AT&T’s exclusive right to offer Apple’s smart phone over the past two years has attracted new customers, and at least initially enhanced the phone company’s image. But it is difficult to know whether those benefits are worth what have been some considerable costs, both short and long term.

For investors, and for federal regulators investigating such exclusivity deals, it is worth considering some factors. While AT&T has disclosed at least 10 million activations of iPhones since it became available in mid-2007, only about 40% of those were new …

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