In a recent interview, Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon Communications clearly indicated that his group wanted to see a CDMA version of the iPhone cell phone on his network as well as a cell phone plan on Verizon to come out soon. This is of course no surprise to anyone seeing how much of a game changer the iPhone has been for AT&T. The iPhone has transformed the smart phone into something more analogous to a personal computer of sorts.
Seidenber states, “Eventually, it’s our view we’ll get to carrying Apple (NSDQ: AAPL).” This would be a breakthrough for Verizon as its CDMA network has better battery life than the GSM networks and it sounds as though Verizon is getting ready to speed up its network as well.
Early adopters of the iPhone certainly complained of the slow speeds of AT&T’s cell phone network and were frustrated by not being able to use the iPhone as deftly as when in a Wi Fi hotspot. Many users described the iPhone as a ‘crippled device’ when on AT&T’s network.Along with the conversion to CDMA, Verizon would like the its iPhone to operate at 4G speeds as Verizon has plans to roll out its 4G network nation wide over the next coming year.
Although the Verizon group is actively courting Jobs and company, many don’t see the iPhone becoming compatible with Verizon in the near future as the Apple company has just made a deal with some major Chinese carriers and is focusing its efforts over here. Many analysis note that the driver behind Apple’s focus on other networks other than Verizon is CDMA phones cost more to make. Although Verizon could offer 10,000,00 iPhone users the margins would be a lot tighter for Apple. Apple has historically, built high margin units and thus the GSM device was first out of the gate and getting Apple’s attention is difficult.
Verizon’s CEO also was rather dismissive of other talk of his company merging with Vodafone.
Seidenberg says, “Another merger doesn’t offer much appeal at this time,”
Looking to find the best deal on cell phone plans, then visit Matt Jones’s site on how to choose the best cell phones for you.
Related posts:
