Apple Signed Five Year Agreement With AT&T in 2007 [Confirmed]

The duration of the Apple/AT&T contract has been confirmed to be five years, according to court documents unearthed by Engadget.

A California class action lawsuit filed in 2007 alleges that Apple illegally exerted a monopoly on iPhone service by telling customers their required contract was two years when the AT&T exclusivity deal was five. That forces customers to stick with AT&T for another three years to use their iPhone.

In Apple's response they confirm the five year deal,


The duration of the exclusive Apple-[AT&T] agreement was not 'secret' either. The [plaintiff] quotes a May 21, 2007 USA Today article – published over a month before the iPhone's release – stating, "AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years-an eternity in the go-go cellphone world."
...
"[T]here was widespread disclosure of [AT&T's] five-year exclusivity and no suggestion by Apple or anyone else that iPhones would become unlocked after two years... Moreover, it is sheer speculation – and illogical – that failing to disclose the five-year exclusivity term would produce monopoly power..."

Engadget notes that contracts can be canceled, amended, and breached so the five year deal may or may not still be in place.

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