iPhone carrier AT&T is nearing their end of exclusivity with the iconic iPhone, it’s just a matter of speculation as to when said exclusivity will end, and once ended it is expected Verizon Wireless will pick up the iPhone.

But just because the exclusivity ends doesn’t mean AT&T will stop offering the iPhone, it just means they will need to fight a lot harder to get customers to purchase the iPhone on their network, which will no doubt be fairly difficult considering the abundance of complaints over network quality in the past.

However, according to an article over on digital daily, during a recent company earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook stated that AT&T is a great partner and Apple has been working with them since the first iPhone and it is important to remember that AT&T has had more mobile broadband usage than any other carrier in the world.

Although Cook did acknowledge that AT&T has been experiencing several problems in some cities and AT&T has detailed plans on how to address those. So even though this doesn’t mean AT&T won’t lose their exclusivity, Cooks defence of AT&T could mean they will renew.