Verizon Changes Policy on Exclusive Contracts

Amidst pressure from the government on the size of wireless carriers and their deals that prevent other carriers from offering certain handsets, Verizon has decided to lighten up on the exclusive deals. Now their deals with phone manufacturers will last no longer than 6 months, hopefully still giving the little guys enough time to grab on to popular phones.

Members of the government have been looking at the deals saying they may be hampering competition and putting other carriers at a disadvantage. Verizon had exclusive deals with Samsung and LG, but after 24 small wireless carriers asked them to get rid of the deals, Verizon seems to have met them in the middle. But, Verizon wasn’t about to give a leg up to their major competitors. The shortened deals apply only to small wireless companies. Meaning if a wireless carrier has less than 500,000 customers, they can get the phone. Otherwise, the big companies like AT&T or Sprint will just have to stare longingly at the exclusive phones.

Odds are, AT&T, with its cash cow iPhone, won’t be following suit any time soon.

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