5 posts and columns on carrier exclusivity

Another Holiday Blowout for Apple?

in Mobile on December 28, 2009 at 5:15 am PT

“We’re thrilled to report our best quarter ever.” Apple CEO Steve Jobs has uttered those words or some variation of them after many of the company’s holiday quarters. This year will be no different if analysts are to be believed.
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Wireless Industry Attorneys Stacking Up on NoDoz, Frozen Pizzas

in News on August 21, 2009 at 7:30 am PT

Next week looks to be a painful one for big American wireless carriers. The Federal Communications Commission has announced its agenda for Thursday’s Open Commission meeting and it implies some long days ahead for wireless industry attorneys. Among the issues to be discussed: The state of competition in the wireless market, carrier handset vendor-exclusivity deals like those between Apple and AT&T, fee-setting and “truth in billing.”
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FCC Chairman Hopes to Bring iPhone, Pre to East Nowheresville

in News on July 31, 2009 at 11:21 am PT

The Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to determine whether exclusive handset deals are promoting or hindering innovation in the wireless market are moving ahead with a focus on rural areas. That’s the word from agency Chairman Julius Genachowski, who says he’s concerned not just with the competitive ramifications of carrier-exclusivity deals but with their tendency to limit customer access to top smartphones.
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Hell of a Way to Get Out of Your AT&T Contract, Varney…

in News on July 6, 2009 at 12:15 pm PT

Earlier this year, Christine Varney, the new antitrust chief at the Department of Justice, said she planned to return the DOJ to a policy that led to landmark antitrust suits like the one against Microsoft in the ’90s. And she delivered on that promise in short order. Since her confirmation in late April, the DOJ has seen a sort of Trustbuster renaissance. It has begun inquiring into potentially anticompetitive recruiting practices in Silicon Valley. It’s opened an investigation into the Google Books settlement. And now it’s scrutinizing cellphone exclusivity deals, like the lucrative one between Apple and AT&T.
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Hell of a Way to Get Out of Your AT&T Contract, Varney…

in News on July 6, 2009 at 12:15 pm PT

Earlier this year, Christine Varney, the new antitrust chief at the Department of Justice, said she planned to return the DOJ to a policy that led to landmark antitrust suits like the one against Microsoft in the ’90s. And she delivered on that promise in short order. Since her confirmation in late April, the DOJ has seen a sort of Trustbuster renaissance. It has begun inquiring into potentially anticompetitive recruiting practices in Silicon Valley. It’s opened an investigation into the Google Books settlement. And now it’s scrutinizing cellphone exclusivity deals, like the lucrative one between Apple and AT&T.
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