The Rural Carriers Association (RAC) wants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate what it calls "anticompetitive effects" of exclusive device deals between handset makers and the nation's top five leading wireless carriers.

In a petition filed last week, the group claims that such arrangements are contrary to the public interest, hurting both consumers and smaller carriers.

"We want the FCC to consider rulemaking on this issue so that people can comment and contribute to the process as these arrangements are increasing with more frequency," David Nace, RAC counsel, told InternetNews.com. The RAC group represents 80 small and mid-size wireless players. Some members have subscriber bases between 500,000 and one million customers, according to the group.

The group's filing noted over 50 exclusive deals currently in place, including AT&T's rights to sell the Apple iPhone last June, and now Research in Motion's BlackBerry Bold, which debuted this month. The filing also mentioned Verizon Wireless' (NYSE: VZ) exclusive to sell the LG Voyager handset and Sprint Nextel's (NYSE: S) deal to sell Samsung's Ace.

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