AT&T will leave Alaskans eager for an iPhone out in the cold. The telecom provides services to the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii, but not Alaska. The free-minded state isn’t taking the slight lightly. The Anchorage Daily News has issued a call to committed adventurers: Go South, Young iPhone Seekers!

Buy a plane ticket to the nearest AT&T or Apple Store (at least $350 to Seattle) and misrepresent oneself as a Washington resident. Get ready to pay sales tax for the phone plus a yet-unknown amount for the service plan. Or find a friend in the Lower 48 to do the misrepresenting, in which case shipping runs $1.48 to $16.25.

How to keep AT&T’s nosy location-tracking network from disconnecting you after illicitly acquiring your precious, precious iPhone, after the jump…

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AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel refused to tell the Daily News how long iPhones would work on Alaska’s network, so the paper had one of its interns call AT&T customer service and ask.

An obliging customer service agent explained that if AT&T’s computer sees four months of chitchatting in Alaska (or elsewhere out of AT&T coverage area), service will be automatically canceled.

But if you call AT&T ahead of time and explain to them that you’ll be on an extended trip, you can avoid service termination — at least for a little while.

In a second phone call, Siegel testily confirmed the four-month figure.

For those who mess with Texas, really, you should try Alaska sometime. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Shut out of service, tech-head Alaskans will need guts to get hands on an iPhone [Anchorage Daily News] (Thanks to Eskimo Joe!)

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