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Apple and Verizon in iPhone Negotiations for 2010?
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My sentiments exactly. I wouldn't switch to Poorizon, even if they got the GodPhone!
LOL! Verizon's switch from CDMA to LTE would not happen overnight or even over one year. Do you have any idea how horrendously expensive building and maintaining a cellular network is? The transition has to be a slow, gradual process for many reasons. If they were transition suddenly over a year, it would cost tens of billions of dollars which would have to be spent in one huge chunk, and millions of customers with existing contracts and CDMA phones would wake up in the morning and have no service. Besides, one article already stated that Verizon is planning on rolling out the service for "other devices" first (meaning wireless broadband USB/ExpressCard dongles for laptops) and then eventually move on to handsets later. Also, see my post above for my prediction of the CDMA/GSM hybrid iPhone.
I do agree that Apple will ingeniously use this to their advantage. I believe that the iPhone will play a big part in helping to put the smack on the greedy cellular providers who charge $20 for unlimited texting, when sending a text message costs them fractions of a cent.
Like I said last time this possibility came up.
Make AT&T work for the exclusivity. If they go along with tethering and such, I say stay with them.
Make AT&T work for the exclusivity. If they go along with tethering and such, I say stay with them.
I hope it goes this way so my Verizon friends can stop trying to explain to me how much cooler their Blackberry is or how they don't really want an iPhone
"gsm", "cdma", Lte
LTE: Won't happen overnight for either ATT or Verizon, Apple will have to make an LTE phone with backward compatibility anyway. So whether the next next iPhone has LTE is irrelavent. If iPhone goes to Verizon, you either see one for GSM/WCDMA/HSPDA and one for CDMA2000/EVDO; OR, you see a hybrid phone with GSM/WCDMA/CDMA2000 with LTE.
"GSM": It's really WCDMA/HSPDA. That's what we have now: A WCDMA iPhone with GSM backward compatibility with ATT.
"CDMA": It's really CDMA2000. This would be the Verizon only version. I don't think it will cost THAT much to get Apple produce a Verizon only phone at all. All other major manufactures have done it for many years.
The only question for Apple is really this: If bring iPhone to Verizon, should they produce a Verizon only phone, or should they produce a WCDMA/CDMA2000 hybrid phone; and whether LTE is necessary at the time of release.
LTE: Won't happen overnight for either ATT or Verizon, Apple will have to make an LTE phone with backward compatibility anyway. So whether the next next iPhone has LTE is irrelavent. If iPhone goes to Verizon, you either see one for GSM/WCDMA/HSPDA and one for CDMA2000/EVDO; OR, you see a hybrid phone with GSM/WCDMA/CDMA2000 with LTE.
"GSM": It's really WCDMA/HSPDA. That's what we have now: A WCDMA iPhone with GSM backward compatibility with ATT.
"CDMA": It's really CDMA2000. This would be the Verizon only version. I don't think it will cost THAT much to get Apple produce a Verizon only phone at all. All other major manufactures have done it for many years.
The only question for Apple is really this: If bring iPhone to Verizon, should they produce a Verizon only phone, or should they produce a WCDMA/CDMA2000 hybrid phone; and whether LTE is necessary at the time of release.
Verizon FTW!
I jumped ship from Verizon and bought an Iphone when it lauched almost 2 years ago. Now that my contract is about to expire I was preparing to just upgrade when to refresh happens in june/july but now I think I may just hold off and wait to see if anymore news comes our way in Q3/Q4 of 2009. Because I would jump back to Verizon in a heartbeat. This ATT service (bad reception and ever worse text messaging delays) here in NY/NJ is enough to make me never look back.
I jumped ship from Verizon and bought an Iphone when it lauched almost 2 years ago. Now that my contract is about to expire I was preparing to just upgrade when to refresh happens in june/july but now I think I may just hold off and wait to see if anymore news comes our way in Q3/Q4 of 2009. Because I would jump back to Verizon in a heartbeat. This ATT service (bad reception and ever worse text messaging delays) here in NY/NJ is enough to make me never look back.
Please let this be true. The CDMA networks in the midwest are soooooo much better than the GSM ones.
... Apple come up with their own cellular network exclusively for the iPhone and Macs.
Is that possible? LOL! Just a thought, don't flame me.
Of course it's possible...the Apple network would simply use an already existing spectrum: Steve's Reality Distortion Field. Five bars anywhere on the globe, my friend.
I'd rather have Sprint.
Verizon does have great service. But smartphone plans on their network are expensive. About the same price as At&t's iPhone plans. I'd just rather be able to pay $70 for unlimited data and messaging without unlimited minutes. It's about $20 less
Plus, Sprint has better 3G coverage than anybody else and they are already testing 4G so yeah...
Verizon does have great service. But smartphone plans on their network are expensive. About the same price as At&t's iPhone plans. I'd just rather be able to pay $70 for unlimited data and messaging without unlimited minutes. It's about $20 less
Plus, Sprint has better 3G coverage than anybody else and they are already testing 4G so yeah...
Why is this such a hot topic??? It is BEYOND OBVIOUS that when the networks go 4G the iPhone will open to all. I mean DUHHH, hello!!! Seriously, why would anything think otherwise??? It is as simple as business gets.
P.S. AT&T has been just great since I switched. I just hope that when the iPhone does open that Apple will get Verizon to stop being so Nazi-ish and controlling.
It couldn't have been because Verizon is like Microsoft and had to make their network proprietary and different than the rest of the world. So whine to Verizon about it. It was a MUCH better business decision to do it with AT&T and THE REST OF THE WORLD as they have!
P.S. AT&T has been just great since I switched. I just hope that when the iPhone does open that Apple will get Verizon to stop being so Nazi-ish and controlling.
It couldn't have been because Verizon is like Microsoft and had to make their network proprietary and different than the rest of the world. So whine to Verizon about it. It was a MUCH better business decision to do it with AT&T and THE REST OF THE WORLD as they have!
I'm already written about this too many times, so i'll keep it short.
It would be an understatement to say that I am disappointed that Apple doesn't *already* have a CDMA iPhone. There is NO legitimate argument for not creating one (or using a dual-CDMA/HSPA chipset in the single model iPhone) as there are ~100 million CDMA customers in the United States --- easily the largest potential market for the iPhone so far based upon total cellphone users and the iPhone's extensive popularity among the public. Beyond that, there are ~400 million CDMA subscribers in the world, and in the future carriers like Verizon who are moving to LTE will continue to run their CDMA network and possibly have dual-use LTE/CDMA devices for the 1-2+ years required to build-out their new network to the footprint of the existing one.
Although we don't know the details, this enormous potential market obviously overshadows any benefits from maintaining exclusivity with AT&T. It may have been necessary initially to enter the market, but now it is just a big ball and chain. Even if opening the iPhone to the Verizon and Sprint led to a reduced average subsidy, the potential doubling or more of unit sales would easily more than make up for the lower revenue per phone.
As an Apple enthusiast, device owner, stockholder, and especially as a fledgling software developer, I will be very upset if Apple continues this nonsense exclusivity.
It would be an understatement to say that I am disappointed that Apple doesn't *already* have a CDMA iPhone. There is NO legitimate argument for not creating one (or using a dual-CDMA/HSPA chipset in the single model iPhone) as there are ~100 million CDMA customers in the United States --- easily the largest potential market for the iPhone so far based upon total cellphone users and the iPhone's extensive popularity among the public. Beyond that, there are ~400 million CDMA subscribers in the world, and in the future carriers like Verizon who are moving to LTE will continue to run their CDMA network and possibly have dual-use LTE/CDMA devices for the 1-2+ years required to build-out their new network to the footprint of the existing one.
Although we don't know the details, this enormous potential market obviously overshadows any benefits from maintaining exclusivity with AT&T. It may have been necessary initially to enter the market, but now it is just a big ball and chain. Even if opening the iPhone to the Verizon and Sprint led to a reduced average subsidy, the potential doubling or more of unit sales would easily more than make up for the lower revenue per phone.
As an Apple enthusiast, device owner, stockholder, and especially as a fledgling software developer, I will be very upset if Apple continues this nonsense exclusivity.
Gawd, Apple will just hookup with anybody. Verizon is the worst coverage in my area. My friends have to drive in their car two blocks to get reception.... lol
Is that a joke? The technology Verizon Wireless uses for its network is not proprietary. I believe the only carrier that uses proprietary technology is Nextel, and that network will almost certainly be phased out (as far as consumer use goes).
Sprint and many other providers in the U.S., Canada, and some other countries use the same technology as Verizon Wireless.
The idea is that Apple profits handsomely off of the AT&T exclusivity agreement for people who buy the iPhone, and Apple ALSO makes a reasonable profit for the people who pass on the iPhone and get an iPod Touch instead.
Verizon is years away from their network meshing with Apple's plans. Apple doesn't need Verizon. Verizon is realizing it needs Apple to be viable in the smartphone market.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple are talking to almost every network in the world about the iPhone. Who wouldn't want to sell it?
260,000,000 million cell phone users in the US so ~100 million is a nice market. However, globally there are 4,100,000,000 cell phone users. ~400 million isn't that much compared to 4 billion and considering Apple wanted to distribute the iPhone globally, it makes sense for them to choose what most people have.
Considering that Verizon is moving off of the CDMA network onto LTE, I don't see Apple investing the R&D for a CDMA only phone. Considering the time it takes to deploy a usable new cell network, I don't know if Apple would wait until the LTE network is ready. I'm going to have to go with the dual band CDMA/HSPDA iPhone in 2010 as the most likely possibility from my point of view.