Analyst sees AT&T growth slowing if Verizon gets the iPhone

Walter Piecyk is the head researcher for Pali Research and he expects darker days ahead for AT&T if the carrier loses its exclusivity to sell the iPhone in the U.S. to other carriers, especially Verizon. The researcher believes that if the iPhone were available on all wireless platforms, customers would head toward the most reliable and faster service which Piecyk says belongs to Verizon. He forecasts that AT&T will have net subscriber additions of less than 1 million in 2010 from a total of more than 4 million net subscriber additions in 2008. Pali Research has just issued new equity ratings on the two carriers and Piecyk explains, "A basic premise of our recently initiated buy rating on Verizon and sell rating on AT&T is our belief that as the iPhone exclusivity period rolls off between AT&T Wireless and Apple, a material number of AT&T customers will flock to Verizon’s superior network."

source: LA Times