According to the USA Today, Verizon and Apple are in high-level negotiations that would see a CDMA compatible iPhone model hit Verizon networks by 2010. Citing sources “familiar with the situation”, these negotiations began way back when Steve Jobs was still overseeing the day to day operations at Apple. The current iPhone, of course, is exclusive to AT&T and runs on GSM technology, making it incompatible with Sprint and Verizon’s CDMA networks.
While CDMA has limited reach outside of the United States, a CDMA compatabile iPhone would still be a boon for Apple as it would make the device available to 80 million new subscribers.
Before Verizon customers get all excited, I should point out that similar rumors have surfaced before, so take USA Today’s somewhat sourceless article with a big grain of salt. It’d sure be nice to be proven wrong, though.
Check out the full scoop over here.
Related: Verizon CEO says iPhone more likely with rollout of 4G network
Sun, Apr 26, 2009
News, Rumors