Verizon’s Getting Ready for the iPhone, Just in Case
By Ed Oswald | Friday, December 18, 2009 at 10:19 am
If the iPhone is really no longer an AT&T exclusive in the new year as many analysts are now suggesting and/or predicting, at least one carrier doesn’t want to get caught with its pants down. Verizon Wireless says it has made the changes it would need to make to its network in order to handle what would obviously be a new surge in data traffic.
Better to be safe than sorry, I guess?
Quite a surprising statement considering the company is spending quite a bit of money putting down Apple in its “Droid Does” ads that we’ve all been getting peppered with for the past two months plus. But in a way it’s not because Verizon has watched as AT&T’s network problems have become a serious liability to the company, “Operation Chokehold” notwithstanding.
“Absolutely, I think we could handle it,” Verizon Wireless CTO Anthony Melone told BusinessWeek in an interview. Now, lets not get the story twisted here: Melone is not saying there is any deal yet, but its pretty much common knowledge that the two sides have at least discussed possible partnerships in the past.
Verizon has gone the opposite way of AT&T over the past several years in investing in network infrastructure, spending about $19 billion on the network itself over the past three years. As Gizmodo points out, AT&T’s spending since the iPhone launch on the network itself has actually decreased.
With Verizon readily talking about it’s iPhone readiness, I wonder if T-Mobile USA will start making overtures as well. The carrier has been mentioned much more often recently as a logical next carrier for the device, as it would take minimal changes (adding TMUS’ 1700MHz band to the 3G chip of the iPhone) for it to work.
Going to Verizon — and CDMA — requires a much more involved rework of the device. Going to be an interesting 2010 in iPhoneland, that’s for sure.
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December 19th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Considering the iPhone 3GS costs Apple $200 to build, and Apple has earned the R&D back by now, I hope Apple will sell the iPhone itself from now on, WITHOUT a contract, for about 400$.
I hate subsidised phones (they only offer crappy rates and don’t really make the phone a lot cheaper) so I’d buy that the second it’s in stores…
But even if Apple doesn’t do that NOW, I think they will eventually, because the scenario of Google selling it’s phone without a contract for a soft price doesn’t seem unlikely to me ^^
December 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
So whats the next commercial?
“Hey, remember this phone we bashed? Its on our network now so its totally cool”
June 29th, 2010 at 2:34 am
I think it would screw up all the marketing for the phones verizon has made to compete with the iphone. If Verizon thinks ot would work and apple says that verizon is a good enough company to handle and agree with…….then lets do it. I have always wanted an iphone .Currently the coverage area for AT&T is so slim that once you get out of a coverage area the IPone really sucks. I think that with going to a Verizon network that Apple will see an increase in users for the iPhone.
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August 19th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Ok first of all verizon isint geting the iphone. Second of all verizon is the most stupidest company. My friend works for apple and he said they r not geting the iphone. Instead they got the droid incredible and the droid x. So verizon sucks hands down. ATT IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 13th, 2011 at 2:21 am
I don’t know I just wanna get a iPhone really badly no joke
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