It is much easier for Apple to control everything if it is branded and locked to one carrier. Apple is all about total control as are the USA mobile operators.

There is no doubt that Apple looked at the economics of being and MVNO and decided that would be the worm. So, if you want to start in your own backyard, and then move to the world, who would you turn to? The new ATT of course; They use GSM, they are bigger than TMo and they know and appreciate proprietary, and they would sell their souls to the devil for some short-term bump in revenue and a slight up tick in customers.

The new ATT is giving up lots to let Apple have this experiment before they go global and only Apple branded.

Me, I am going to sit this one out. Watch and see what happens and hope I can pick an N95 cheap in a few months when someone gets tired of their new toy. I doubt I will ever own an iPhone, but never say never.