Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January

[Auggie]

BLOOMBERG.COM / June 29, 2010

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company, will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone next year, ending AT&T Inc.’s exclusive hold on the smartphone in the U.S., two people familiar with the plans said.

The device will be available to customers in January, according to the people, who declined to be named because the information isn’t public. Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, and Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, declined to comment.

The iPhone, which has been the sole domain of rival AT&T in the U.S. since June 2007, will give Verizon a boost in its competition for smartphone customers, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik said in an interview. Verizon customers, who numbered 92.8 million at the end of the first quarter, may buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, he estimates.

“Apple is going to dramatically increase the number of devices it sells in the U.S. when exclusivity at AT&T ends,” said Hodulik, who is based in New York and rates Verizon shares “neutral.” “It’s hard to ignore the quality issues that AT&T has faced.”

Verizon Wireless, which is building a high-speed fourth- generation network, plans to unveil several devices that will run on the new technology in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam has said.

MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/verizon-wireless-said-to-start-offering-iphone-ending-at-t-s-exclusivity.html

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I hope! But this has been rumored for years and never happened.

[Auggie]

2. More from PC World:

June 30, 2010

Jeff Bertolucci, PC WORLD -- "If the Apple iPhone doesn't migrate soon to Verizon Wireless, the world will spin off its axis. Those 2012 doomsday predictions will come true. Antidepressant usage among iPhone-craving Verizon customers will rise exponentially.

Well, you can stop worrying and put back the pills. Because after months of rumors, rumblings, and rants, including this week's vaguely sourced scooplet from Bloomberg, it almost seems like a done deal: The iPhone will at long last shake off the shackles of AT&T exclusivity and come to Verizon.

It's Coming

If, like me, you adhere to the where-there's-smoke-there's-a-better-data-network philosophy, there are valid reasons to believe the Verizon iPhone rumors. After all, tech analysts, often the source of these reports, get their information from industry and supply chain insiders. So let's jump ahead and assume the Verizon iPhone is going to happen sometime next year. And given Verizon's upcoming launch of its new LTE 4G data network, it's conceivable that the carrier's first Apple handset could very well be a 4G-capable device. (The new iPhone 4 runs on AT&T's 3G network.)

IDC mobile phone analyst Ramon Llamas also spots a possible convergence between the iPhone and Verizon's 4G. "Am I saying the iPhone will be LTE? I'm not a hundred percent sure," he says. "But the timing says to me that it's possible."

MORE: http://www.pcworld.com/article/200235/verizon_lte_iphone_iphone_4g.html?tk=hp_blg

[MilesColtrane]

3. Now I have the conundrum of whether to wait 9 months until my AT&T contract is up.

Or, paying the penalty and moving to Verizon right away.

YAAAAYYYY!

[47of74]

4. I would love to see that happen

I would love to see that happen. I'm on Verizon right now and there is no way I would consider going with AT&T no matter what the phone is capable of. See, I've already been on their network and it's not very good here in Iowa. If Verizon is able to sell the iPhone I'll get one as soon as I become eligible for a new phone next June.