Verizon reduces exclusivity period for new handsets

by Joe P on May 11, 2009

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Here’s some actual good news from a carrier. While AT&T is changing contract terms and not letting people out of them, the folks at Verizon are making things a bit better for those who don’t use their service. How’s that? By reducing the time frame on exclusive deals. This includes handsets from LG and Samsung.

While old exclusive deals could last for years, under the new guidelines the deals will expire after six months. This means that smaller, regional CDMA carriers can then offer those phones to their subscribers at a far sooner date than they’d ben accustomed to. This has been a major complaint of not only the regional carriers but of consumers. Not everyone wants to use Big Red, and they think it unfair that the big bad carrier gets all the best handsets and keeps them away from everyone else.

Even so, the six month figure may be misleading. According to the Associated Carrier Group, smaller carriers still need time to modify the handset software for their specific networks, a process which can take months. This includes testing periods, too, though these processes certainly existed under old guidelines. These carriers might not be able to offer handsets at exactly the six month mark, but they’ll certainly be getting them out earlier than under previous guidelines. Perhaps the next step is for Verizon to allow these carriers to test the handsets before the six months is up so that they can make the launch at that point.

Filed under : Cell Phones