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Originally Posted by GTO  1. The verizon locked phones are available through other carriers also. iPhone = Only AT&T. |
Yup. Thats exclusivity - this is Apple strategy for every target market. They will tie up with one operator for exclusivity. Obviously it will be the operator that Apple thinks will push the product more aggressively, whether it is through special tariffs, subsidies, bundled packages, etc. There is enough hype over the product for Operators to fall over themselves for this exclusivity.
Hence the need for them to protect the operator from hacks on the network lock. It would be very interesting to see how much the iPhone would cost without operator support - i.e., as a standalone package.