At times, the wireless industry rumor mill seems to be second only to that of a high school’s the week after prom. Between traditional news outlets and blogs claiming to have insider information, it’s sometimes difficult to weed out the truth from the wishful thinking. For several months now, rumors have been flying about the possibility of Verizon becoming the next carrier for the iPhone. Or at least, another carrier. Right now, AT&T has an exclusive contract with Apple to be the only service provider for the iPhone. That contract expires next year. AT&T has been desperately trying to hold onto its biggest money maker, and has made several attempts to get Apple to extend their exclusive agreement, at least into 2011. As of yet, no official announcements have been made either way, but the rumor about a Verizon-powered iPhone recently got a little boost.
AppleInsider claimed on Friday that it had received a report generated by OTR Global, an industry intelligence provider. The report allegedly cites sources in the Taiwan handset supply chain, who say Apple had initiated contracts to produce an iPhone compatible with both Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks. The report says the phone is to be delivered in the third quarter of 2010.
Right now, the iPhone only works with UMTS networks in the United States, which is what AT&T uses. Verizon uses CDMA. By producing a hybrid phone able to function on both networks, Apple would open the door to Verizon, allowing the carrier to make the iPhone available to its 89 million subscribers.
If this is true, and it does come to pass, it’s not clear whether this means AT&T would lose the iPhone altogether, or just the exclusivity. If a new iPhone is manufactured that is compatible with both networks, it would be to Apple’s advantage to allow both carriers to offer it. This means AT&T would most likely lose some customers, but that’s better than losing all their iPhone subscribers to Verizon. Allowing both carriers to offer the iPhone would also benefit consumers by giving them a choice of providers. Many people who would like an iPhone avoid it because they don’t want to use AT&T’s service.
The report is also said to indicate the new globally compatible iPhone would be smaller than the current versions. The iPhone’s display measures 3.5 inches. The new iPhone, if the report is accurate, would only measure 2.8 inches. There’s no indication reported as to why a smaller phone would be either necessary or desirable, other than it possibly being lighter. The iPhone 3G weighs 4.7 ounces, while the iPhone 3GS weighs 4.8 ounces, neither of which is really all that heavy. Sacrificing display space to reduce what is already a light weight may not be an acceptable trade-off.
For now, until such a report is published and available for public viewing, or one of the major players, i.e., Apple or Verizon, makes a formal announcement, a Verizon iPhone is still just conjecture. We’ll keep you posted.
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