Verizon CEO Reveals That He Has Asked Apple for iPhone Rights

[ten-oak-druid]

Women will often appear busy with their phones so guys they aren't interested in won't bother them. If they are interested the phone gets ignored very quickly.

LOL

I was speaking of society in general. I'm "off the market" myself. But I recall being able to chat with people more (both guys and girls) before these phones came around. Now everyone is disconnected (pardon the pun).

There was a cartoon about this in the local paper. A bunch of frustrated guys trying to get the attention of girls walking by on the phone.

 

[Davey782]

I cant wait for Steve's reply! but knowing apple we really won't get one, it'll just announce the iphone is coming to other networks and that'll be that..

 

[thetexan]

Why is the Verizon guy announcing this?

1. In negotiations with apple now, but not finished. This puts some fire under apple's butt, helping verizon's stance in negotiating.

2. It's a message to stockholders, "profits and customers coming.... give us time..."

3. Both.

1. Maybe

2. Profits and customers have been plenty over the past several years. Verizon's stock has done great and its stockholders are plenty happy. The lack of the iPhone has made little if any impact on their bottom numbers.

 

[SeattleMoose]

Competition Is Good

eom

 

[xraydoc]

Just did this and I have daily mindblow at what my phone can do

Just wait until you root your Droid, install a custom ROM and install the wifi tether hotspot app. Tethered my iPad to it for 90 minutes yesterday. Loved every minute of it. And did it in a spot where I know for a fact there is no AT&T signal (I also have an iPhone 3GS).

 

[Raidersmojo]

I would laugh if steve put out of one his emails saying


"No"

 

[GoCubsGo]

Like Apple says, they like to "think different." and you're right. But we all know what us anti-noVerizon iPhone people are trying to say. We're trying to talk about ways this is bad for Apple. AT&T has good coverage, fast speeds, and a very very good relationship with Apple. Don't believe me? Do your studying and watch the keynotes. I'm not saying Apple isn't doing an iPhone for Verizon, but i know there will be one eventually. But not this year or next year. It'll be the best for both Apple and Verizon. That's why i said LTE would probably the best chance Verizon would get it.

I don't think AT&T is any better in coverage than Verizon. I speak for myself in that Verizon would be a better choice for me. One thing mentioned here that I did forget it I do enjoy surfing the internet while on a call (ie: on hold) but I don't know if I do it enough to care. Take it away and I bet I would care.

Ways that Verizon could be bad for Apple? I'm not sure I see one other than the whole surfing the web while talking on the phone issue. Choice is not bad and it often trumps quite a bit.

Just wait until you root your Droid, install a custom ROM and install the wifi tether hotspot app. Tethered my iPad to it for 90 minutes yesterday. Loved every minute of it. And did it in a spot where I know for a fact there is no AT&T signal (I also have an iPhone 3GS).

This is another reason. Here I am paying $10 and having to jailbreak my phone to tether in hopes that I don't push my limits too much to get tossed off AT&T. I believe Verizon is ok with this, at least they were when I had a Verizon BB through work. I tethered an entire week for no less than 3 hours a night while in the UK, no additional charges and no nasty messages from Verizon.

 

[budselectjr]

The original iPhone can't talk and surf at the same time. Apple had no issues releasing that phone. They would do the same for verizon.

Why would you go backwards?

 

[alexhasfun28]

I don't think AT&T is any better in coverage than Verizon. I speak for myself in that Verizon would be a better choice for me. One thing mentioned here that I did forget it I do enjoy surfing the internet while on a call (ie: on hold) but I don't know if I do it enough to care. Take it away and I bet I would care.

Ways that Verizon could be bad for Apple? I'm not sure I see one other than the whole surfing the web while talking on the phone issue. Choice is not bad and it often trumps quite a bit.

Yes, you're speaking for yourself. But what about the other millions of subscribers on Verizon or at&t. It can be bad for Apple because of the cost they'll have to put in, the time they'll have to take, just for a single CDMA device for stinky Verizon! In my opinion, I may not want Verizon as an exclusive, but if Apple gets it, okay go for it as long as there's still at&t and Apple. I wish it could come to Sprint instead, but i still have my doubts. GMS is more used, CDMA is old and only a few carriers carry it. But fine, Let all the bandwidth come to Verizon, let the people complain on the CDMA network, but as long it takes off a majority of the bandwidth of at&t. It'll make the experience much better.

 

[aristotle]

eom

I think everyone agrees that competition is a good thing but Verizon is not interested in competition. They are interested in maximizing their short term profits. Full stop.

Everyone here likes to rag on AT&T because their precious iPhone does not work in their pretentious San Fransisco or New York like they would want to but AT&T is making capital investments to improve their network while Verizon is dragging their heals promising LTE some day when there is no voice standard for LTE ratified yet. That means, no LTE iPhone for the next few years.

Verizon just wants more subscribers and does not want to spend any money on improvements or switching away from CDMA until the last possible moment.

I know people keep on saying that the network is smaller in Canada but did you guys ever bother to look at the geographic area covered by the new network launched by the former CDMA exclusive carriers in Canada? They are covering a lot of surface area in northern and central Canada not just the most heavily populated areas.

Verizon is not looking at the big picture. They are not considering the future, the handsets they would have access to or the roaming revenue they are missing out on from tourists by staying on the CDMA technology.

If, Apple does release CDMA2000 compatibility, it would only be in addition to Asian CDMA compatiblity with CSIM cards along with an HSPA+ radio for the rest of the world. They would never bother with a phone just for Verizon and Sprint for two reasons.
1. Bad PR from customers who bought the phone realizing that they could not talk and surf at the same time like the GSM/HSPA model can.
2. Bad PR from customers who bought the phone realizing that they could not use it outside of the US on vacation as a phone like the GSM/HSPA model can.

 

[currentinterest]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Apple will be on Verizon, but there will be no pre-announcement. Apple would not want to depress sales to people who would switch to get an iPhone, but would wait if they knew it would be on their current network.

 

[ghostlyorb]

It's already been proven that Verizon's 3G speeds are slower than AT&T's, plus no talk and data at the same time ..

no thanks. If they do get the iPhone I'd stick with AT&T.

have you ever thought that maybe Verizon could be capable of doing voice and data at the same time.. if Verizon had phones that could support it? The iPhone supports it.. and my blackberry doesn't. During those commercials where they advertise those adds... are they using anything but an iPhone???

 

[jclardy]

I am all for the Verizon iPhone. I know a lot of people who would get an iPhone if it was on Verizon, and as a developer, the more users the better!

 

[AidenShaw]

The original iPhone can't talk and surf at the same time. Apple had no issues releasing that phone. They would do the same for verizon.

Why would you go backwards?

Having had Verizon smartphones for a long, long time - I never realized that I couldn't talk and surf at the same time, until it came up in the Apple press as a horrible failing of Verizon.

If I'm talking - the phones against my head (or I'm in the car on the BT hands-free).

If I need to check something on the internet during a conversation - it's usually "are you at your desk - good, then check and call me back". If she isn't at her desk, then "I'll check and call you back".

I would consider it poor manners to expect someone to stay on the line while I chase down some factoid.

2. Bad PR from customers who bought the phone realizing that they could not use it outside of the US on vacation as a phone like the GSM/HSPA model can.

Verizon has a number of world phones with CDMA *and* GSM. Why do you assume that Apple would not use one of the world-band radios?

 

[Craiglorocks]

The whole thing is simply getting old. A Verizon Iphone would be amazing, but the constant yes no yes no yes no is beyond old. Where i live Verizon wireless and ATT are like comparing VHS to Blueray. I simply cant switch knowing I have an amazing device that cant get a bar. My friend has an Iphone and we can stand right next to eachother all over town and half the time he has nothing when i have full bars. All I am asking for is a choice.

 

[theBB]

Unsatisfied AT&T subscribers finally get their wish and move over to Verison.

Satisfied AT&T subscribers get a network with more breathing room.

And those who drew the short straw. Long time Verison subscribers realize their network is now overloaded with former AT&T subscribers.

It is hard to top this post.

 

[Mike2128]

I see a lot of posts about how Verizon is "changing its stance" on the iPhone after its huge success. I'm going to have to disagree...

Considering what the mobile market was like before the original iPhone was introduced, on paper, it was a disaster. It seemed like nothing positive could've come out of it in the carrier's perspective: huge pricetag at the time, data plans at 44% of the cost of then-prices + profit sharing with Apple, limited distribution and technical assistance, no additional revenue options like ringtones, games, etc... we all know why they didn't take it at the time.

Now when the 3G came out, that's a different story. That was a more traditional carrier/supplier relationship with standard contract pricing, subsidized cost, increased channel availability, and the availability of 3rd party options (like say, at&t navigation). I feel as if it'd been a much different story if this was the model that Apple had approached VZW with and I don't think it's wrong or odd of Verizon to want to establish a more standard relationship at this point.

 

[theBB]

If I'm talking - the phones against my head (or I'm in the car on the BT hands-free).

I would consider it poor manners to expect someone to stay on the line while I chase down some factoid.

I guess your phone does even have speakerphone.

It is rarely used feature, but it is sometimes helpful while giving directions away from a full fledged computer or read some info off the web so that a friend knows where and at what time to show up. Hang up, find the info, write it down so I don't forget, call back, read the info, realize they need one more detail, hang up again etc. is not exactly a pinnacle of good manners, either. It is not as bad as not having "cut and paste", but a similar limitation.

 

[Block]

Having had Verizon smartphones for a long, long time - I never realized that I couldn't talk and surf at the same time, until it came up in the Apple press as a horrible failing of Verizon.

If I'm talking - the phones against my head (or I'm in the car on the BT hands-free).

If I need to check something on the internet during a conversation - it's usually "are you at your desk - good, then check and call me back". If she isn't at her desk, then "I'll check and call you back".

I would consider it poor manners to expect someone to stay on the line while I chase down some factoid.

It's more for those "Please stay on the line and the next customer service representative will be with you shortly" moments.

 

[LucidPsychosis]

Gosh, this makes me even more excited for Thursday's iPhone OS 4.0 event. Maybe something will be announced or at least hinted at.

Oh, also, here's to hoping that they'll allow iPhone tethering without jailbreaking. If you think about it, it would benefit Apple to do this. I know a few people who jailbreak exclusively for tethering.

 

[lPHONE]

...no kidding. Honest question: why is this even news? "Largest US Carrier wants to support most popular smartphone" :-\

i would like to know too. until then...

 

[theBB]

Now when the 3G came out, that's a different story. That was a more traditional carrier/supplier relationship with standard contract pricing, subsidized cost, increased channel availability, and the availability of 3rd party options (like say, at&t navigation). I feel as if it'd been a much different story if this was the model that Apple had approached VZW with and I don't think it's wrong or odd of Verizon to want to establish a more standard relationship at this point.

Are you saying Apple told Verizon that iPhone 2G was the best it would ever get? AT&T management was shown the same iPhone, weren't they? They did not think of it as disaster. Verizon's board may take your reasoning as a justification to pay him a large bonus (what is a few tens of millions between friends) but the reality is Verizon at the time thought it was very smart to disable many features of the phones (We were expected to pay Verizon to transfer the pictures we took with our camera phone even though there was Bluetooth and USB). They just did not think they could make money if they did not nickel and dime their customers to death or that a phone could have much better user interface so that you could actually enjoy using them.

I am still not convinced Apple would release a CDMA phone even if Verizon accepted the offer, but if Verizon really refused, it is because its management did not have foresight. Some might consider that as a failing worthy of firing for large company CEO, but many times merit does not have much to do with why somebody gets to a position, so I guess it is OK.

 

[AidenShaw]

It is rarely used feature...

We agree .

Seriously, why are the Verizon haters so up in arms? If talk-n-surf is important to them - then stay with AT&T.

Let the people who prefer the network with much better coverage switch.

 

[cleric]

Cue rumors that Verizon is coming to iPhone in version 4.0!

 

[goobot]

i cant wait till thursday when steve says on thursday

"today i will announce Verizon will come to iphone. o and happy late april fools"