PITTSBURGH -- So you've finally found the perfect cell phone that you want and you go to the store to get it, only to find out your carrier doesn't offer it -- but the competition does.
Has that ever happened to you? Call 4 Action Aaron Saykin said it has become such an issue that the government is getting involved.
The iPhone is an Apple-made handset that's only available only to AT&T customers through what's known as an exclusive agreement -- a practice used by many major carriers that each have their own special phones.
"I think it's a pain in the butt," one person on Pittsburgh's South Side told Saykin.
"I think everybody should have the option to have the phone that they'd like to have, regardless of whatever their carrier is," another person on the South Side told Saykin.
The United States Department of Justice is investigating whether these exclusive agreements violate antitrust laws by allowing one particular carrier to have a monopoly on a phone.
Some experts argue that the deals actually spark more competition.
"It requires another manufacturer to come out with a 'me too' product, then add a few more features, so it's constantly improving the marketplace," said Dan Shaffer, of Wireless Solutions on the South Side.
The federal probe may already be having some effect.
Verizon Wireless just announced that all of its exclusive agreements will now last no longer than six months, leaving many people to wonder whether the others -- like AT&T with its popular iPhone -- will soon limit theirs before the government decides to push the end button itself.
Anyone who wants to tell the Justice Department how they feel about exclusive cell phone agreements -- both good and bad -- can do it through
the "Contact Us" link on the Justice Department's Web site.
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