AT&T Chief Presses to Keep iPhone, Deepen Wireless Push

AT&T's exclusive deal to carry the iPhone in the US expires next year, but the telecom giant is already in discussions with Apple to get an extension until 2011. Keeping the iPhone away from rivals and finding the next hit devices, such as smart phones and multimedia handheld tablets, are among the challenges AT&T faces as it shifts its energy away from the crumbling US landline phone business and into the wireless market, where technologies evolve quickly and hit products don't last long. AT&T also is seeking to overhaul the company's marketing to make wireless the priority. The next step is to do away with a requirement that customers have AT&T's home-phone service to qualify for discounts on TV or broadband Internet services. Being a wireless customer should be enough.