Asked whether Verizon Wireless will carry an Apple iPhone, Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said “it’s their call,” and that “eventually it’s our view we’ll get to carrying Apple.”
The comment follows a recent Wall Street Journal story that said Apple would start making phones compatible with Verizon’s current CDMA network later this year.
That story was significant because many iPhone customers have complained of poor service from AT&T, and the carrier has acknowledged that its data network has been unacceptably slow during peak hours in cities with a high concentration of iPhone users, such as San Francisco and New York.
In particular Sedenberg said he would hope to be able to sell an iPhone that supports a Long Term Evolution (LTE) high-speed fourth generation (4G) network the company is building.
Verizon expects to offer 4G services later this year and that the first phones supporting those services would show up around the middle of 2010.
An iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network would allow Apple to likely double its current US marketshare of smartphones.
Great write up. The iPhone is truly awesome and I don’t like being without it. This time last year I had jumped in a pool with my iPhone and it was dead. I had to wait 10 days before I was able to purchasea new one. The phone I had was a cheap go phone. I really love all the apps that can be downloaded to the iPhone. The best part about the iPhone to me is the ability to check emails on the go. Thanks for the information.