Sources are reporting that AT&T's stranglehold on the iPhone will end in January.
Bloomberg cites two anonymous sources said to be familiar with the Verizon iPhone plans who says the iPhone will be available with Verizon in January.
Earlier this month, Verizon wireless company's CEO Ivan Seidenberg said a Verizon iPhone was Apple's call. No official comments have been made either from Verizon or Apple to indicate that anything has changed, which is not surprising given that would sabotage upcoming product launches planned until the iPhone were to arrive.
Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with nearly 93 million subscribers. Analyst John Hodulik estimates Verizon customers could buy 3 million iPhones a quarter.
Though the Wall Street Journal previously reported a CDMA iPhone would begin production in September, Verizon is rolling out it 4G LTE network late this year into 2011. Verizon's testing has realized speeds nearly 10 times faster than its current 3G network which is CDMA EV-DO.
If the report is true some the roughly 2 million who flocked to Apple and AT&T could have buyers remorse given one of the biggest consumer wishes has been for a Verizon iPhone.
Matthew Fortner has been at The News & Observer since 2002. He has a passion for gadgets, cutting-edge technology and all things geek.
Comments
This is what my Verizon rep told me
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 11:08 — kttechwriterMy Verizon Rep told me this a year ago, but was off a month. He told me it would be Feb of 2011. That's perfect for me. I loved my iPhone 3G but hated AT&T so dropped the service a year early and paid to get out of my 2 year contract. When I got the Droid to replace it, I paid extra for a one-year contract, just in case this happened.
I hope they will have resolved these early adopter issues. Jan is a long way off, technology-wise. iPhone has been working on this LTE/CDMA version of it's phone for a while and has had plenty of time to test it.
I like my Motorola Droid, but I LOVED my iPhone. Given the change with Verizon, I'd go back in a second.
ALL service carriers
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 09:29 — icabod61i met an apple employee several years ago that was part of the iphone team. i enquired about the "at&t" only thing. he told me that apple initially presented the iphone to all available cell phone services and at&t was the only one to come to terms with what was being offered.
AT&T coming to terms
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 11:14 — kttechwriter@icabod61
As far as AT&T being the only ones able to "come to terms with what was being offered", I believe that was because AT&T was desperate! They were losing customers left and right and were on the verge of going under. It was a huge gamble on their part. They invested a lot with the then-unproven Apple iPhone and reaped the rewards when they were both hugely successful.
Sadly, AT&T is losing customers, even with the iPhone, and it's not due to better phones out there. When I quit AT&T, they offered me deal after deal to stay.
My advice to anyone with AT&T is, if you want to stay and don't want to quit, call them and say you want to quit anyway. Tell them you are willing to pay whatever it costs to get out of your contract. Be hardcore. Then take one of their deals they offer you. Not too shabby.
I just wanted out of AT&T at any cost but they the offers they threw at me were pretty sweet.
I will believe it when I see it...
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 06:57 — TechEeeI hope it is true. I have no AT&T service at my house. The horror stories about both voice and data coverage kept me with Verizon. I understand Apple offered the iPhone to Verizon first but could not come to terms. Plus, Verizon did not see the market yet.
iPhone 4 is incredible
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 21:44 — TheLibertineThe FaceTime feature is amazing -- it's like the stuff I used to dream about watching Star Trek. I own several Apple products, and each one has been a smart purchase. The beauty of an Apple product is its design -- you open up a Macbook and you get the most elegant guts -- everything in its place, fitting together perfectly; a pc looks like Frankenstein.
@Mike27513: I'm glad Droid is becoming more competitive because it will force Apple to stay bleeding edge. Alas, it will always follow iPhone technology. I agree with your position about freeware -- of course, you can do this as well with the iPhone with a simple jailbreak.
I seriously doubt that Verizon is getting iPhone -- I'd be more inclined to believe T-Mobile or Sprint will have it first.
Who Cares?
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 19:31 — mike27513I'll stick with my FREE Android based phone , thousands of FREE apps at the Android S/W store and UNLIMITED data plan.
The rest of you can continue to overpay for Defective Apple products and S/W.
How's the Antenna Design defect working for all you Iphone 4 owners ?
Good for you.
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 20:01 — pirminThanks for sharing. We were on the edge of our seats.
As expected Pirmin
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 20:46 — mike27513Always with the personal attacks.
Well,
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 19:24 — UNC1998when can AT&T customers get a droid?