[aditya]

Agree with everything you've said, but there's an interesting bit of news in yesterday's WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124082748427758659.html

Basically, Verizon added more subscribers than AT&T last quarter, so barrier or not, the iPhone isn't pulling as many people to AT&T as it was earlier. It makes sense from a developer perspective to write for the iPhone but VZW doesn't have to care.

[cstejerean]

The fact that AT&T isn't pulling in as many subscribers does not mean VZW doesn't stand to gain a lot from carrying the iPhone. It can steal existing AT&T subscribers that have iPhones, steal some of the future iPhone owners that would have went to AT&T instead, and also attract people to VZW that want an iPhone but really don't want to be on AT&T.

The kind of growth VZW would see from carrying iPhones should be much bigger than what AT&T is experiencing at the moment, since most of the people that want an iPhone AND are willing to switch to AT&T have already done so.