already accelerated its plans to rebrand the Cingular properties in preparation of the iPhone’s arrival and apparently, its efforts may be well placed as the iPhone could be an AT&T-exclusive for five years, according to a USA Today story.Currently AT&T is one of only two providers in the US that uses GSM technology. Both other service providers Verizon and Sprint use the older CDMA, which does not have the same capabilities as GSM. Most of the rest of the world, including the EU, uses GSM.And Apple is barred for that time from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks.
So if you want an iPhone anytime soon, you'll have to take your business to AT&T.