Verizon iPhone? Don’t Hold Your Breath

With plenty of heat on AT&T this past year, hopes have been running high for Apple to share its iPhone with Verizon. However, an analyst does not foresee a Verizon iPhone arriving anytime soon.
That’s because Verizon recently announced a partnership with Google to offer two new Google Android-powered handsets this year. That would suggest Verizon’s near-term direction is with Android, said Scott Ellison, an IDC analyst, in a ComputerWorld article.
Ellison added that there’s no sign Apple is ready to share its iPhone with another carrier. Also, three IDC analysts said Verizon probably won’t receive the iPhone until it converts to its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.
Several months ago, some analysts speculated the iPhone would be shared with the Verizon network by 2010. Many sources have claimed AT&T’s exclusive contract with Apple ends next year, though this remains unconfirmed. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg told The Wall Street Journal that Apple is more likely to bring the iPhone to Verizon once the telecom company deploys its LTE network. He explained the majority of the wireless industry plans to transition to LTE in the next few years, and it would then make sense for Apple to bring Verizon on board. Verizon has said it is rolling out LTE next year.
Of course, cellular networks take several years to deploy and optimize, so we didn’t believe Verizon would get the iPhone as soon as it began rolling out LTE. Thus, IDC’s reasoning is plausible. Meanwhile, iPhone owners disgruntled with AT&T, or Verizon customers eagerly awaiting the iPhone to land on their network, can keep wishing for the day Apple ends its exclusive relationship with AT&T.