Mashable has a piece on the Justice Department’s investigation into AT&T and other wireless carriers who have exclusive agreements with phone makers:
The U.S. Department of Justice may not be happy with this and other exclusivity arrangements, though, and has opened a review of AT&T, Verizon, and some of the other major telecoms. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, this “initial review” will explore issues like anti-competitive practices, the sheer market share of AT&T and Verizon (60% of wireless customers), and the practice of locking up phones via exclusivity agreements. Could the government end the AT&T-Apple partnership?
I am not an AT&T fan, moreso for their poor DSL service than their wireless service, though I’d prefer Verizon.
That said, the Justice Department should leave this one alone. These agreements are not anti-competition. They are due to competition. They are two businesses doing business together. And these types of agreements are everywhere.
