By Allen Tsai | Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:51 am |
The Justice Department is reviewing whether U.S. carriers such as AT&T and Verizon have engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
The inquiry, while in its early stages, is looking at whether consumers are hurt by the long-term exclusivity agreements carriers sign with handset makers.While most agreements last for six months or less, lawmakers have raised questions about AT&T's right to sell Apple's iPhone -- two years after the first model's launch. AT&T isn't alone in striking exclusive arrangements. Only Verizon sells Research In Motion's touch screen BlackBerry Storm in the U.S. And Sprint Nextel is the only carrier with the Palm Pre until early next year. Carriers say such agreements allow them to take risks on expensive new smartphones and bring them to market at lower prices. Regulators are also looking into whether carriers are unduly limiting the applications that they allow to run on their wireless networks -- such as Internet calling service Skype. AT&T restricted SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, a TV streaming application, saying it would take up too much air time and slow down access for other users. The law that covers monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior, the Sherman Antitrust Act, has been used in the past against giants such as Standard Oil and Microsoft.
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