Coming in the wake of accusations made by the government that phone exclusivity deals hurt competition, Verizon announced a change in its' exclusivity policy. Verizon will limit exclusivity to 6 months on all available handsets, as long as the carrier who wishes to offer that phone has less than 500,000 customers. This will allow small carriers to get a piece of the pie, while locking out rivals like AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon is the first to announce a move along these lines, while AT&T is hoping to extend the exclusivity agreement it has with the iPhone. A deal that has grown its customer base by stealing customers away from other carriers.