Industry 'Chatter' Points To Verizon iPhone In January

Tech pundits predict Verizon will soon begin selling the iconic cell phone

11/01/2010 | By Mark Huffman

| ConsumerAffairs.com | Cell Phones & Smart Phones

After years of speculation over whether Apple would end its exclusive agreement with AT&T and make an iPhone for Verizon, it looks like such a move is now a foregone conclusion.

It is, if you read the technology blogs, which have been buzzing in recent weeks about the clues, which seem to be falling into place. The consensus prediction appears to be a January 2011 launch.

Late last month there was a report that Verizon had suddenly begun rehiring hundreds of workers for its call centers. What could be behind it, many wondered, if not to have people in place to accept the anticipated flood of orders for a Verizon iPhone?

Blogger Ben Parr calls the Verizon iPhone "Apple's worst-kept secret," and is already conducting a poll among Verizon customers, asking if they will switch to an iPhone.

Doesn't actually exist

Sarah Ellison, writing in Fortune, calls the Verizon iPhone "the most talked about cell phone that doesn't actually exist." In fact, neither Apple nor Verizon have said a word about a long-anticipated Verizon iPhone. Apple's latest official pronouncement, in fact, was to say it was quite happy with its present relationship with AT&T.

The story gained steam again last month when Verizon announced it would begin selling an Apple iPad that would run on its 3G network. Many technology writers saw that as the opening move toward Verizon, that would ultimately end with an iPhone.

But perhaps this story has grown legs, not so much because current Verizon customers long for an iPhone - though many undoubtedly do - but because so many current iPhone users have grown frustrated with AT&T's network. Poor coverage and dropped calls have become an issue in some of the country's largest market's, including Los Angeles.

Accommodation

For Apple and Verizon to reach a deal, some accommodation would have to be made for Verizon's CDMA technology, with differs from AT&T's network. The iPhone is built to run on AT&T, so Apple would be required to build an iPhone that would work on a CDMA network.

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and creative force, is said to not be somewhat resistant to CDMA technology, which may have been the main stumbling block to a partnership up until now. But with Wall Street estimating consumers would buy eight to nine million Verizon iPhones next year alone, financial considerations may well prove persuasive.