• Fortune, Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:46 PM

AT&T has solidified itself as the nation's No. 1 wireless provider thanks in part to the deal that makes it the exclusive U.S. carrier of Apple's iPhone. Thus far, AT&T has registered about five million iPhones onto its network, Fortune says. These subscribers are loyal, and they spend twice as much on their phone bills as the average wireless user. More important, perhaps, is the credibility that comes with being the sole carrier of such a media darling. Overall, AT&T has 75 million wireless users, four million more than No. 2 Verizon Wireless.

However, AT&T's exclusive deal with Apple isn't forever, and it's still very early days in the life cycle of the iPhone. Neither company will say when their relationship will end, but industry analysts claim AT&T only has a few more years of being the iPhone's one-and-only carrier. The clock is ticking.

Meanwhile, Fortune says AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has started pushing the notion that wireless phones are becoming indispensable lifestyle devices that consumers need to surf the Web or connect to their corporate networks at any time. As such, AT&T recently purchased Wi-Fi provider Wayport, which should help iPhone and other smartphone users surf the Web quickly from more remote locations.

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