Yes, we’re hearing the rumors: AT&T really wants to maintain their exclusivity for the iPhone through 2011. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T really wants to “get a deal done” soon.

To no one’s surprise, both companies aren’t saying a whole lot about this matter, and Apple is only saying “that the two companies have a great relationship”. That doesn’t strike us a ringing endorsement, but hey, negotiations like this often aren’t aired publicly, for many reasons.

There’s no doubt the iPhone exclusivity deal gave AT&T lots of renewed interest and fresh blood, where it had a lagging, aging company for a few years before hand. If they lost the iPhone, well, we hesitate to suggest where AT&T might go.

It appears they’ll have the iPhone at least until 2010, when Verizon and AT&T share a similar network format (4G) and things may start to fragment a bit more. We’ll definitely be there to let you know what happens, how, where and when.