Residents of Vermont should finally be able to gain direct access to the iPhone in the near future, a local television station reports. WCAX notes that all important divisions of the federal government have approved Verizon's acquisition of Rural Cellular Corporation, the operator of regional carrier Unicel. Aside from Vermont, Unicel sells service in several other states, such as Alabama, New York and Washington.

Due to monopoly worries, however, as well as concern about excluding GSM phones from Verizon's CDMA-based network, the federal government has stipulated that the carrier must divest itself of some of Unicel's coverage. These holdings are being handed off to AT&T, meaning that the carrier will finally gain a wireless foothold in Vermont. As a consequence, people in the state will at last be able to subscribe for iPhone service. The transition to AT&T is expected to complete within a few months.