Yippeeeee! iphone coming to verizon next month!!!!

[DVCJones]

Maybe this is old news, but I just saw this on our local new station.

I will be the first in line for one in February!!!!

Has anyone else heard this?

 

[WebmasterMike]

This turned out to be speculation only and not fact. Verizon had no mention of the iphone at their opening press events of CES. Everyone expected them to announce the iphone, but nothing came to fruition. Sorry.

 

[sayhello]

I've been hearing rumors of this happening pretty much since the iPhone came out...

Sayhello

 

[WebmasterMike]

This turned out to be speculation only and not fact. Verizon had no mention of the iphone at their opening press events of CES. Everyone expected them to announce the iphone, but nothing came to fruition. Sorry.

I may have spoken too soon,

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704739504576068170230339348.html

WSJ: Verizon to announce CDMA iPhone 4 on Tuesday

By Daniel Eran Dilger
Published: 07:20 PM EST

Related AppleInsider articles:
Verizon media event on Jan. 11 fuels Apple...
Verizon reportedly sees iPhone as "essential...
Verizon may pay Apple to keep iPhone away from...
AT&T CEO says most iPhone users won't leave...
Rumor suggests voice & data on Verizon iPhone,...
As speculation surrounding Verizon's iPhone reached a fevered pitch, the Wall Street Journal has confidently announced that the carrier has finally landed Apple's iPhone.

The report said the new deal will "upend the balance of power in the industry, ending Verizon rival AT&T Inc.'s exclusive hold on the device and leaving smaller players like Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA facing two well-capitalized competitors offering the world's most popular smartphone."

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the report said that while "it wasn't immediately clear when Verison would have the devices in its stores," the carrier would be announcing details in its press conference scheduled for next Tuesday in New York.

It also said the device "would be similar to the existing iPhone 4, but run on the carrier's CDMA technology." Verizon made a big splash at CES surrounding its "4G" LTE deployment plans, but that new network won't be available for voice calls until 2012.

Impact on AT&T, other US carriers

The report noted that Apple's exclusive deal with AT&T, which started in 2007, "has fueled much of the carrier's subscriber growth and has given it a solid lead in smartphone customers."

Additionally, it noted that "the arrangement between Apple and AT&T was groundbreaking at a time when carriers tightly controlled the appearance and function of their phones, and put Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Google in the wireless industry's driver's seat."

At the same time, while "Apple feels it has had tremendous success through its exclusive relationship with AT&T," the report stated, "it recognized that it needs to partner with Verizon to grow sales faster in the US." A note filed by analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros in December said the carrier was "still excited" about launching Apple's iPhone early next year "to combat slowing Android momentum in the US."

Verizon has partnered with HTC and Motorola over the last year to promote Android phones in a hedge bet against BlackBerry's inability to deliver a worth competitor to the iPhone. However, the carrier has since seen a drop in Android interest with the arrival of iPhone 4.

Despite its "Droid" branded push in 2010, "Top Verizon executives have continued to meet regularly with their counterparts at Apple, however" the report noted, "and have long expressed interest in carrying the iPhone, which could help add to the carrier's base of 93 million subscribers."

AT&T has braced itself for the loss in iPhone exclusivity that it has seen coming for some time, working to lock existing iPhone 4 buyers into two year contracts and relying upon family and business plans that make it hard for individuals to leave the carrier.

Other US carriers may be hit harder, including T-Mobile and Sprint, neither of which are expected to gain access to iPhone sales, even though the new CDMA iPhone should work on Sprint's network, and the existing iPhone 4 can work on T-Mobile's, albeit limited to the much slower, 2G GSM/EDGE service.

The big event

The report noted that Verizon's iPhone launch event "threatens to overshadow Verizon's keynote address Thursday at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, where the carrier touted its new 4G network and announced a number of Google-powered phones and tablet PCs designed to make use of the network's capabilities."

Verizon has invited Mac journalists to the event but has notably excluded Gizmodo staff from its invitation list, a move that all but confirmed that the event involved Apple.

This week, AppleInsider was first to report that Apple had been quietly restricting employee vacations at the end of January and in early February.

On Friday, another rumor surfaced, suggesting that Apple could have a major product launch scheduled for Feb. 3.

 

[disneyholic family]

considering the far superior verizon network, i wonder how many AT&T customers will jump ship to verizon.....

 

[evildiva]

I too read the article in AppleInsider. Also, my father, who just retired from Verizon Communications, received a company email alerting them to iphones in 2011. I am so excited that when I was in Disney for Podcast Cruise 2.0 I bought an iphone 4 case for a phone I don't even have yet. However, where else are you going to be able to get a Tinkerbell or Animal phone case!

 

[WebmasterMike]

considering the far superior verizon network, i wonder how many AT&T customers will jump ship to verizon.....

I see two issues, Beth...

1. Until 2012, you will not be able to talk and use the data at the same time. (Which means that you will have to purchase IPhone v.2 for VZ to get that ability)
2. If a bunch of ATT customers jump ship, then the VZ network will be WAY oversubscribed. Just like ATT's is today.

The next Iphone will be LTE(4G) capable.

 

[disneyholic family]

I see two issues, Beth...

1. Until 2012, you will not be able to talk and use the data at the same time. (Which means that you will have to purchase IPhone v.2 for VZ to get that ability)
2. If a bunch of ATT customers jump ship, then the VZ network will be WAY oversubscribed. Just like ATT's is today.

The next Iphone will be LTE(4G) capable.

the AT&T network is shockingly bad....i didn't use my iphone in the states (too costly - roaming etc), but i happened to buy a prepaid phone that uses the AT&T network....i could not believe how bad the network is....and that was true everywhere i used the phone - NYC, Orlando, Houston and Detroit...

as for the iphone - it has its issues.....DD's phone freezes constantly.....DH's phone not as often, but it definitely has a lot of freezing issues as well......
but we had to sign on 3 year contracts, so it's not too easy to get out of...plus, it's true, once you get an iphone, you get somewhat addicted, even with the performance problems...

 

[doconeill]

I see two issues, Beth...

1. Until 2012, you will not be able to talk and use the data at the same time. (Which means that you will have to purchase IPhone v.2 for VZ to get that ability)
2. If a bunch of ATT customers jump ship, then the VZ network will be WAY oversubscribed. Just like ATT's is today.

The next Iphone will be LTE(4G) capable.

I think simultaneous voice/data will be available on the LTE phones later this year - because they will be using CDMA for the voice still, and LTE for the data. Unless they do something foolish with the radio part (they can conceivably make a radio that can use only one band at a time, instead of dual radios, to save space)

If this iPhone is only CDMA, Verizon is missing a big opportunity. And if the customers want simul data and voice, they won't jump ship - you'll just get early adopters. But it might mean that I can upgrade my current Droid to a Droid Incredible while the guy in charge of phones gets an iPhone instead

 

[OKW Lover]

considering the far superior verizon network, i wonder how many AT&T customers will jump ship to verizon.....

Not many.

Consider that those that already have iPhones are locked into a 2-year contract.

If you're talking about after their contract's expire, I'm guessing the answer is still not many. Inertia is a powerful thing. Unless Verizon is offering a substantial discount on their prices, why would I switch from ATT where I'm very happy with the coverage.

 

[disneyholic family]

Not many.

Consider that those that already have iPhones are locked into a 2-year contract.

If you're talking about after their contract's expire, I'm guessing the answer is still not many. Inertia is a powerful thing. Unless Verizon is offering a substantial discount on their prices, why would I switch from ATT where I'm very happy with the coverage.

you're right that inertia is very powerful.
also, people tend to stick with the devil they know....

 

[dalt01]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110108/tc_nm/us_verizon_6 Reuters seems to be echoing this..........it does not name the source............hope its not a boat captain

 

[jcb]

I switched from verizon to AT&T because of the iPhone. I was using a treo 750 at the time - speaking of utter dogs. I don't live in a very dense population area and, to top it off, most around here stay with verizon anyway. Having used verizon and AT&T I can't tell much of a difference in coverage, either in geographic coverage or quality. (I swicthed to verizon because sprint's all digital network had very poor local coverage). I am one who will have to be very persuaded to return to verizon at the end of my contract. The cost will have to be much better. I had no issues with verizon nor have I had any probems with AT&T. AT&T had the foresight to lead the way on the iPhone, however and that counts for something, I believe.

 

[disneysteve]

We have been with AT&T since they bought Cingular years ago. DW and I both have iPhones. DD has an LG. None of us has ever had any problem with the network. No reception issues. No dropped calls. We live in the Philadelphia area and service here is excellent. We've often been places with friends who had no service on their phones (not AT&T) when our phones were working just fine. We also travel a fair amount and have used our phones from New Hampshire to Florida and from New Jersey to California. We are always baffled by the complaints we hear about AT&T having lousy service. We wonder where those people live because we have yet to encounter any issues.

So Verizon getting iPhones won't impact us at all. We have no intent and no reason to leave AT&T.

 

[doconeill]

Coverage issues vary by area. At least in the northeast, Verizon seems to have mostly better coverage. Not perfect - there are areas where NOTHING works at all.

We experimented with iPhones for work when they first came out - well, the managers did - those of us who could have actually USED them for our jobs weren't important enough Of three tested, one couldn't get a signal anywhere on his property (Verizon works, but only for half his house...), one had a far weaker signal than Verizon, and the other worked fine.

 

[wdwfreeksince88]

I have been with verizon for years. I currently have e Droid X. Even though I love my Apple products (iPad, etc) I don't think I would care to give up my Android phone for an iPhone. I used to want one really bad but now that I have Android I probably wouldnt give it up. But on a another note, I wouldnt give up my iPad for an android tablet.

 

[newdrama12]

Hope so that it is true this time. I'm on Verizon now and my contract is about to come to an end so my new every 2 just kicked in today. So I can upgrade for a discounted price with a $30 credit. Please let it be true!!

 

[doconeill]

Hope so that it is true this time. I'm on Verizon now and my contract is about to come to an end so my new every 2 just kicked in today. So I can upgrade for a discounted price with a $30 credit. Please let it be true!!

When we last looked to upgrade DW's phone, we went into the Verizon store (a real one, not a pseudo-Verizon dealer store). All we wanted was the new phone, and we were up for one under the "New every 2" promo which we had used for both of our phones several times.

I almost canceled our contract right there, and again when I talked to a rep on the phone the next day. You don't try to technobabble *ME*...

First, they told me that to get the enV3 (which DW had her eyes on), we'd have to completely change our plan - it could no longer be grandfathered in our current plan (where data was billed as minutes and not MB), and we'd have to pay more than $20/mo for the base plan with more minutes we didn't need, get a data plan as well for something like $15, or pay per MB, with no way to tell how much we've been using - because the phone had an "HTML browser". Umm...my existing enV has that already. They just say it is an HTML browser rather than just "Mobile Web". But he insisted it needed a data plan because it was HTML. AND apparently the New Every 2 didn't apply for some reason - we could only get it at something like $30 off retail price or something like that, because our plan no longer qualified for NE2 (without notice to us). I wasn't paying $100+ for the phone and $35 more a month just for a new phone.

The rep on the phone said they did have an unadvertised plan level that was the same as we had, except the data was still separate - they no longer billed as minutes. I asked, "So what are we using now monthly?" so I could know what to expect - and she couldn't tell me, because we were billed by the minute. I said we could easily use MBs going to just a single web site, so $2/MB was ridiculous, and the $15 only got us something like 25MB. She said we wouldn't use as much with a phone, because "it uses smaller packets". Ummm...I work in IT. Smaller packets doesn't save you anything, in fact it takes more bits to send the same info...

I ended up getting my sister's enV and activating that. Still have the same old plan. I've got a Droid through work so I'm not paying for any of that currently. But I see all these new plans, data, etc. and I know DW is itching for something...and I dread going in to the store again to try and sort it all out and see what we can get for what price...as I know they'll try and say something stupid to me...

I did, one time, go into a store for some electronic something-or-other, and when a person came to help me I actually said, "Look, I already know about these things, possibly more than you do...just answer the questions I ask..."

 

[WebmasterMike]

I almost canceled our contract right there, and again when I talked to a rep on the phone the next day. You don't try to technobabble *ME*...

That reminds me of the time when our VZ Technical Specialist told me that our CDMA modems would not always work correctly because of Sunspots. After my eyes rolled a complete 360 degrees, I advised him that not only was everyone in the room was an RF engineer, but that we were all active HAM radio operators and he just tried to BS the wrong folks.

The VZ contract for 1000 cellular modems was cancelled the next month and we went with a different provider.

 

[doconeill]

That reminds me of the time when our VZ Technical Specialist told me that our CDMA modems would not always work correctly because of Sunspots. After my eyes rolled a complete 360 degrees, I advised him that not only was everyone in the room was an RF engineer, but that we were all active HAM radio operators and he just tried to BS the wrong folks.

The VZ contract for 1000 cellular modems was cancelled the next month and we went with a different provider.

"Sunspots" is the default answer for "our network sucks, we don't know why there is a problem, and we aren't going to fix it anyways if we did". I think all the providers use that