I'm no legal expert, but exclusivity comes with a price.  Unless we actually see the language of an agreement (which will obviously be under the strictest of NDA language) we can only speculate.

How do we know that POET mgmnt hasn't created clauses for the precise scenario you've outlined?

And if I'm a huge, mega company, whose very existence depends on being at the cutting edge and having an inside track on industry-leading, disruptive technology that could seriously impact the bottom line, I would NEVER enter into a non-exclusive agreement.  What's the point? 

The OI has multiple applications for multiple verticals.  In this case, (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'm imagining that the Tier 1 company has designs on only one of those verticals, but one that could be very lucrative.