Rural cell telcos unhappy with latest Verizon offer

To appease its rural critics, Verizon offered last week to “allow any carrier with fewer than 500,000 subscribers to offer devices it sells after a six-month exclusivity window” but the Rural Cellular Association isn’t yet impressed, Marin Perez reports for Information Week.

In a statement, the association says Verizon’s commitment excludes popular handsets like the BlackBerry Storm and neglects a large part of the rural consumer base, and "More than 180 million of the nation's wireless customers are unable to benefit from the new policy.”

Big carriers promoting exclusive handset deals are facing more scrutiny from lawmakers and advocate groups like the association, who say they limit choice and provide an unfair advantage over smaller wireless phone companies. But major mobile companies are fighting back, arguing that exclusivity deals benefit consumers by encouraging healthy competition, and have generated products like Verizon’s Storm and Sprint’s Palm Pre. (Read more)