"This is the kind of healthy oversight we want to see," Kerry said in a statement. "During our committee's examination of exclusive deals between cell phone manufactures and wireless providers, it was clear that we need to know more about how these contracts affect competition in the marketplace and its impact on consumers. As the future of communication continues to move out of the ground and into the airwaves, it is important that we ensure the wireless market remains competitive and consumers are protected."
Operators like AT&T, which is in the spotlight because its deal for the popular Apple iPhone is unusually long, say that such arrangements promote innovation. AT&T is in the second year of its exclusive arrangement for the iPhone and while the companies haven't revealed how long the deal will last, many people believe it is expected to go on for five years. Before the deal between AT&T and Apple for the iPhone, exclusive agreements more commonly lasted for a period of months, not years.
At the recent hearing, Kerry and other senators struggled to understand AT&T's reasoning for how such deals promote innovation.
AT&T is also among operators at the center of the debate over whether wireless operators should be able to forbid certain applications from running on their networks. The operator is not yet supporting picture messaging on the iPhone, nor tethering, which would let users connect their iPhones to laptops for Internet access on their computers.
AT&T did not reply to a request for comment about the potential DOJ investigation.
Grant Gross in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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