Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January

james_b · Jun 29, 2010

Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January - Bloomberg

Lifeisabeach · Jun 29, 2010

Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January - Bloomberg

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company, will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone nextyear, 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.

I'm not under the impression that Bloomberg is some rumor monger that throws out anything that comes cross their desk. It seems to me that this report is more credible than usual. Even more so... MacDailyNews reposted this, along with their own comment essentially saying it's real. MDN often posts rumors that often don't pan out, but I've never seen them put their own stamp of authenticity on something that didn't pan out.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/25808/

chscag · Jun 29, 2010

It certainly sounds more credible than past rumors about Verizon. Bloomberg is generally reliable in what they report. After all, he is the Mayor of NYC.

Regards.

technologist · Jun 29, 2010

The Respectable, Mainstream Media™ are all over this wire report.

The time frame (next year) actually lends it more credibility IMO. It'll take at least that long to get one ready for Verizon.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Steve Jobs finally got fed up with AT&T during the iPhone 4 launch crash and pulled the trigger.

AT&T is going to hemorrhage iPhone customers over this.

MYmacROX · Jun 29, 2010

Wish in one hand, poo in the other...

chscag · Jun 29, 2010

AT&T is going to hemorrhage iPhone customers over this.

That might happen. But what I hope will happen, is that the competition between the two largest carriers in the US will lead to lower prices and better service.

What I really would like to see is Apple selling unlocked iPhones for use on GSM or CDMA here in the US. But that's not likely to happen any time soon.

Regards.

bargsbeer · Jun 29, 2010

chscag said:
That might happen. But what I hope will happen, is that the competition between the two largest carriers in the US will lead to lower prices and better service.

What I really would like to see is Apple selling unlocked iPhones for use on GSM or CDMA here in the US. But that's not likely to happen any time soon.

Regards.

Amen! You said it best. Every other country in the world sells unlocked iPhones. Why not the U.S. Also I agree competition between two separate carriers should drive down cost and improve customer service.

schweb · Jun 29, 2010

I'll predict the iPhone will be on Revol Wireless in...um...October 2010.

schweb · Jun 29, 2010

chscag said:
That might happen. But what I hope will happen, is that the competition between the two largest carriers in the US will lead to lower prices and better service.

Not hopeful on that one. As I said in another thread AT&T and Verizon are about the same company despite Verizon trying to pretend otherwise. They're both products of the Baby Bell culture.

The only way we'll see true competition is if T-Mobile or Sprint get the iPhone...they're the only two who've proven in the past they're willing to be disruptive in the marketplace.[/QUOTE]

schweb · Jun 29, 2010

technologist said:
AT&T is going to hemorrhage iPhone customers over this.

I can only hope so AT&T's network has less strain and we can finally see if Verizon's self-congratulating network is really all it's cracked up to be and how restrictive they choose to be with their network.

Lifeisabeach · Jun 29, 2010

chscag said:
That might happen. But what I hope will happen, is that the competition between the two largest carriers in the US will lead to lower prices and better service.

Competition now isn't doing much to drive prices downward. Aside from some recent drop in costs for unlimited plans, everything has gone up. What one does, the other quickly follows suit. ****, text messaging should be free with a data plan, and otherwise should cost far less than it does now considering it costs virtually nothing to provide the service. The FCC really should look into this more… there have been claims in the past of collusion on SMS pricing, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is.

bargsbeer · Jun 30, 2010

lifeisabeach said:
Competition now isn't doing much to drive prices downward. Aside from some recent drop in costs for unlimited plans, everything has gone up. What one does, the other quickly follows suit. ****, text messaging should be free with a data plan, and otherwise should cost far less than it does now considering it costs virtually nothing to provide the service. The FCC really should look into this more… there have been claims in the past of collusion on SMS pricing, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is.

I don't know if I completely agree with that, Like Schweb said earlier, Both T-Mobile and Sprint have been very disruptive in the marketplace with there very affordable unlimited plans. On the other hand I know what you mean regarding data plans.

Lifeisabeach · Jun 30, 2010

Well well well… here's something:
Verizon to launch 4G on Nov. 15, phones Nov. 26? | Electronista

Verizon's very early 4G plans may have surfaced tonight. A new but purportedly reliable source to BGR understands the carrier's LTE (Long Term Evolution) network should go live on November 15 and would be followed by a "slew of new devices" on Black Friday, November 26. As expected, only 25 cities would have 4G from the start, but this would be enough to cover 100 million potential customers.

The pricing would mark the end to unlimited smartphone plans and would have different tiers, but Verizon wouldn't take its cue from Sprint's WiMAX service and charge a premium for the faster access; it would be considered the same as 3G.

What was I just saying about pricing and one following the other? Yep. But that aside… going live with their LTE network, which would be GSM compatible, will open the door to Verizon offering the iPhone as-is, albeit in limited markets. The time frame is still looking good. Launch the LTE network in November, announce the iPhone coming at that time, prepare for pre-orders.

Lifeisabeach · Jun 30, 2010

bargsbeer said:
I don't know if I completely agree with that, Like Schweb said earlier, Both T-Mobile and Sprint have been very disruptive in the marketplace with there very affordable unlimited plans. On the other hand I know what you mean regarding data plans.

T-Mobile and Sprint aren't competing with AT&T and Verizon. Not really. Just with each other. If they were and competition really was fully in effect, AT&T would have lower out-of-contract pricing like T-Mobile does. And that's how it should be. T-Mobile just doesn't have enough clout in the market to influence what the others do. Nor Sprint for that matter.

schweb · Jun 30, 2010

lifeisabeach said:
Well well well… here's something:
Verizon to launch 4G on Nov. 15, phones Nov. 26? | Electronista

What was I just saying about pricing and one following the other? Yep. But that aside… going live with their LTE network, which would be GSM compatible, will open the door to Verizon offering the iPhone as-is, albeit in limited markets. The time frame is still looking good. Launch the LTE network in November, announce the iPhone coming at that time, prepare for pre-orders.

That's not really too big of a deal. Verizon already stated that LTE will be data only for now, voice calling will still be done over CDMA for the foreseeable future. That means an even more complicated device with an LTE and CDMA chipset necessary to function on Verizon'e network.

schweb · Jun 30, 2010

lifeisabeach said:
T-Mobile and Sprint aren't competing with AT&T and Verizon. Not really. Just with each other. If they were and competition really was fully in effect, AT&T would have lower out-of-contract pricing like T-Mobile does. And that's how it should be. T-Mobile just doesn't have enough clout in the market to influence what the others do. Nor Sprint for that matter.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on the competitive landscape and clout of the various carriers.

Lifeisabeach · Jun 30, 2010

schweb said:
That's not really too big of a deal. Verizon already stated that LTE will be data only for now, voice calling will still be done over CDMA for the foreseeable future. That means an even more complicated device with an LTE and CDMA chipset necessary to function on Verizon'e network.

Yah... I misunderstood how the LTE works. I thought any GSM device would work on it, but nope. My bad. But yes, according to that article, the iPhone 4's form factor wouldn't allow for an LTE chip (not enough space). I think they are supposed to be rather power hungry too, something I doubt Apple will be in a hurry to adopt.

Lifeisabeach · Jun 30, 2010

schweb said:
We'll just have to agree to disagree on the competitive landscape and clout of the various carriers.

I will certainly agree that things will be more competitive if/when all the carriers have fully upgraded to compatible networks. To be honest, I really think the government should just take over the cellular infrastructure, make it compatible, then lease out bandwidth to the carriers, who all would basically be MVNOs. That would REALLY open things up and solve issues of what phones will work on whose network, as well as guarantee nationwide coverage. Though I'm also being overly optimistic that the government could even handle maintaining/upgrading the infrastructure adequately.

codda · Jun 30, 2010

lifeisabeach said:
I will certainly agree that things will be more competitive if/when all the carriers have fully upgraded to compatible networks. To be honest, I really think the government should just take over the cellular infrastructure, make it compatible, then lease out bandwidth to the carriers, who all would basically be MVNOs. That would REALLY open things up and solve issues of what phones will work on whose network, as well as guarantee nationwide coverage. Though I'm also being overly optimistic that the government could even handle maintaining/upgrading the infrastructure adequately.

Yea...what we need is more government regulation... :Smirk:

CrimsonRequiem · Jun 30, 2010

lifeisabeach said:
I will certainly agree that things will be more competitive if/when all the carriers have fully upgraded to compatible networks. To be honest, I really think the government should just take over the cellular infrastructure, make it compatible, then lease out bandwidth to the carriers, who all would basically be MVNOs. That would REALLY open things up and solve issues of what phones will work on whose network, as well as guarantee nationwide coverage. Though I'm also being overly optimistic that the government could even handle maintaining/upgrading the infrastructure adequately.

Sounds good on paper but I don't know how I would feel about that in real practice.

codda said:
Yea...what we need is more government regulation...

Ah the government regulation debate, never ceases to amaze me.

Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January

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