Apple Insider cites several sources that indicate that AT&T's exclusive agreement to offer the iPhone probably won't be extended, and that you'll see the iPhone make its way to Verizon's network next year. Despite Verizon's current ad campaign that pokes fun at the iPhone (though more specifically AT&T's network), vendors appear to be in the early stages of constructing a slightly smaller, new iPhone that would be compatible with both CDMA2000 (EVDO, Verizon) and UMTS 3G (HSDPA, AT&T) networks. The new "worldmode" iPhone will likely make its debut next summer.

While it's still possible that AT&T could dump enough cash in Apple's lap to make them extend the exclusive contract, at this point it seems unlikely. There's a combination of factors pointing to Apple opening the floodgates. AT&T's taken a PR beating for network performance, which doesn't jibe with Apple's cool, sleek, user-friendly public relations bubble. Apple also wasn't happy with AT&T's sluggish adoption to bandwidth demand (specifically on the backhaul end).

Apple's also got both the FCC and Congress starting to investigate whether things like long-term exclusivity deals are anti-competitive (even Sprint's CEO thinks exclusivity limits are a good idea). And of course there's the simple fact that Apple can make oodles of additional cash by offering the iPhone via additional carriers.

AT&T appears to be aware that the party's almost over. "Even if we lose the iPhone exclusivity, we're going to probably be the only ones that have a speed of 7.2 (Mbps) that these phones can work on," AT&T's Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega recently stated. The comments mirror the belief among AT&T executives that it's AT&T's network speed and reliability -- not the iPhone and the loyal cult of Mac -- that's responsible for the company's industry-low customer defection rates and huge quarterly numbers.

Of course those expecting that an iPhone on the Verizon network is going to be wireless broadband utopia should probably temper their enthusiasm. Verizon's mobile data prices aren't any prettier, the company frequently suffers from billing support dysfunction, and while their EVDO network is more robust with better coverage, there's no evidence that the performance stays that way once hit by an influx of hungry iPhone users (though iPhone users across all carriers would share that load).

That said, more iPhones from more carriers means carriers have to compete on things like price and network performance instead of how much money they're willing to shell out for exclusives -- and that's a good thing.