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AT&T has wrangled itself an extra year as the exclusive carrier ofthe iPhone, according to a report published in USA Today.

 In return for a $300 subsidy it is paying to Apple for each iPhonesold, AT&T has extended its exclusive carrier deal with Apple until2010. According to the report it was set to expire in 2009,although rumors and reports at the time of the iPhone launchspeculated the Apple/AT&T deal was for as long as five years.

 The money it's losing through subsidizing the iPhone is worth itfor AT&T, CEO Randall Stephenson told the newspaper, as the iPhonebecomes central to the transformation of the company into a 21stcentury wireless force to be reckoned with, with global reach and loyal customers.

 "The iPhone has repositioned AT&T as the premier wireless brand inthe world," Stephenson told the newspaper. "We're all aboutwireless."

 USA Today reports: "In exchange for its payout, AT&T got a year extension,into 2010, on its exclusive distribution deal with Apple, peoplefamiliar with the matter say. Sources asked to not be named becausethe terms are confidential. Under the original iPhone contract,Apple had the right to offer the device to other carriers beginningin 2009. If Apple exercised that clause, AT&T would have lost oneof its biggest points of leverage with customers—exclusiveaccess to the iPhone."

 The subsidy is meant to bring the price down to one that themainstream consumer can afford—$199. AT&T has said it willeventually begin selling unsubsidized iPhones without the currenttwo-year contract required on iPhone purchases, but details havenot been released.