Verizon cutting all device exclusivity to six months for small carriers
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jul 17th 2009 2:19PM
posted Jul 17th 2009 2:19PM
The original plan was to max out exclusivity periods at six months for Samsung and LG products, but now, Verizon's offering an even larger olive branch to small carriers, saying that it'll limit exclusivity to half a year for "all devices." Straight-up competitors like Sprint certainly won't be reaping any benefit from this, but the little guys -- carriers with 500,000 or fewer subscribers -- will now be able to pick up the same hardware Verizon has after the six-month cooling off period has elapsed. Though it seems like a genuinely good-hearted measure, the move is undoubtedly designed to get the FCC and Congress to cool off, both of which have been taking a keen look into potentially practices by some of the nation's largest carriers -- AT&T and Verizon in particular. But hey, either way, if this means faster Wireless Coupe launches across the country, we're all for it.[Via Phone Scoop]
Who really cares if US Cellular or some back water tiny, little itty bitty, carrier gets a phone like say the storm, and 6 months is a good thing as a min anyway, look at the bugs that can get worked out on the major carrier b4 the little guy has to find them and possibly not get much attention when things need to be fixed... is RIM going to care more about 100,000 verizon subscribers or 50 on Us Cellular... same w/Apple and all that..
I wonder if this will force the hand of at&t with apple... at&t does seem to follow the leader (vzw)
Actually, Mr. Asshole, people on those carriers care about whether they get good phones. US Cellular, by the way, doesn't exactly fit into the category of "500,000 or fewer subscribers" considering they have approximately 6.5 million customers and are the 5th largest carrier in the United States, just behind T-Mobile (regardless of the fact that they're a regional carrier). It also can't be forgotten that US Cellular is a pretty big deal in the Midwest and parts of rural America where they mainly operate. By the way, in case you can't tell, I'm a US Cellular subscriber and I'm stuck on their network for a while and, well, I like modern phones. But, regardless, it's good that US Cellular, Metro PCS, and Cricket, as well as the other little guys will be getting better phones sooner in the future. End rant.
VzW -- the Carrier you Hate to Love.
It is a step in the right direction. but it should be implemented for all cellular companies. Maybe one day this will be possible all of this exclusivity only benefits the carriers not the consumers...
this was done entirely of Verizons greed to get the iphone. in the end, it will make AT&T look bad and the powers that be will force AT&T to follow the same steps. that is what this is all about
so? it's necessary for more reasons than just vzw's greed to get the iphone. it helps the consumers in that we do not have to pay an etf to get the exclusive phones on their only carriers. it also helps the manufacturers (possibly).