iPhone Changing Labels?

As I was watching the news they had a quick segment about the iPhone and as I was getting up I heard that the exclusive deal that apple has with AT&T is coming to an end within the year. This is both good and bad news. Good for all of the other phone carriers so maybe they can get the iPhone and also bad for AT&T because the iPhone has been one of the best things that has happen as of late. If other cell phone carriers get a hold of the iPhone we will all be likely to see the sales in iPhones go through the roof. No one knows for sure when the deal is to come to an end but people speculate that maybe it will before the end of 2011. Seems like a long time but for monster companies such as Apple a year is not a lengthy as we may think. But ending its exclusive deal with Apple could result in big trouble for AT&T. First, the iPhone has helped AT&T claim new customers. About 40 percent of AT&T's 10 million iPhone customers switched to AT&T from another carrier, according to the company.
Customers have complained often about the poor performance of the the iPhone. And this has had a negative effect on the company's reputation. When users experience problems with the iPhone, they  blame AT&T not apple. Even with all of the complaints nothing major has happened because AT&T is the only provider so if you don't like it then you can't have the iPhone. But if others carriers such as Verizon pick up the phone then you will most likely see many users swith to Verizon because of their problems with AT&T along with many Verizon users getting the new iPhone.
This is not only a huge deal in the United States but all over the world over 50 countries carry the iPhone and over 20 million of them have been sold. What would AT&T be like without the iPhone? No one will be able to tell if that happens. And what if other carriers get a hold of it? What will happen no one knows for sure, but we can all say a lot more iPhones will be sold if exclusive relationship between AT&T and Apple comes to an end.