NEW YORK
You can stop asking, "When
will Verizon get the iPhone?"
One of the longest lock-ins in
the technology business ended
shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday,
when Verizon Chief Operating
Officer Lowell McAdam told a
crowd of invited journalists
and analysts that Verizon
Wireless would begin selling
its version of Apple's iPhone 4
on Feb. 10.
Wireless users had been
hoping for the news since not
long after the iPhone's debut
as an AT&T exclusive in the
summer of 2007. Few gadgets
have been tied to a single
service provider in one market
for that long, and few have
been as coveted as Apple's
smartphone.
Apple's move breaks open a
monopoly that had drawn
criticism among consumer
advocates, terminates AT&T's
most-favored-carrier status
with the Cupertino, Calif.,
company and elevates Verizon
as a new long-term partner
for the maker of the iPhone,
iPad, iPod and Mac computers.
"Today, two industry
innovators are coming
together to deliver something
that consumers have been
hungry for for years,"
McAdam said as he opened
the event.
Apple Chief Operating Officer
Tim Cook returned the
compliment a few minutes
later. "We have enormous
respect for the company this
team has built and the hard-
won loyalty they've won from
their customers," he said.
"This is just the beginning of a
great relationship between
Apple and Verizon."
AT&T has a great deal to lose,
with published estimates
putting its potential subscriber
losses to Verizon as high as 5
million to 6 million over the
next two years. Its spokesman
put out a consistent message
Tuesday: "ForiPhone users
who want the fastest speeds,
the ability to talk and use
apps at the same time, and
unsurpassed global coverage,
the only choice is AT&T."
The arrival of the iPhone 4 on
Verizon also resets the
competitive equation between
Apple's mobile devices and
their biggest competitor,
smartphones running Google's
Android operating system.
Users who wanted a Web-
capable device with access to
thousands of add-on
applications but did not want
to sign up with AT&T have
often gone with Android
phones. Verizon pushed
Google's software especially
hard - NPD Group analyst Ross
Rubin estimated that 70
percent of the carrier's third-
quarter smartphone sales
consisted of Android models.
But Rubin note d that Verizon
is leaning on Android phones
to launch its 4G - short for
"fourth-generation" - LTE
mobile broadband service,
while the iPhone 4 will only be
able to connect to its much
larger but slower 3G network.
Rubin also suggested that
Android could get more
support from an unexpected
quarter: "AT&T will dive into
Android as they lose their
iPhone exclusivity."
Verizon Wireless, based in
Basking Ridge, N.J., will start
selling its version of the
iPhone 4 on Feb. 10, although
its current customers can pre-
order it as of Feb. 3. A version
with 16 gigabytes of storage
will sell for $199.99 with a
two-year service contract, and
a 32GB model will cost
$299.99, almost exactly the
same prices AT&T charges.
Would-be iPhone users on
Verizon will need to sign up
for a voice plan, starting at
$39.99 a month, and data
service, though the carrier
isn't saying what that will cost.
Most of its smartphoneusers
now pay $29.99 a month for
unlimited data access.
AT&T's voice plans cost about
the same, but it stopped
selling unlimited data service
last summer and instead
charges $25 a month for a
maximum of 2GB. Neither
carrier includes text
messaging in those plans.
Switching to a Verizon iPhone
may not be as automatic or
easy as ads may suggest.
Disgruntled AT&T subscribers
who haven't finished up their
service contracts will have to
pay early-termination fees if
they want to switch. They also
won't be able to bring their
old iPhones to Verizon, since
the two carriers use
incompatible wireless
technologies. In addition,
they'll lose the ability to
browse the Web over a
mobile-broadband signal
during a phone call, and the
Verizon phone, unlike AT&T's,
won't work in most foreign
countries.
The Verizon-Apple news left
open the possibility of the
iPhone appearing on other
carriers. Although Cook
described the arrangement as
"strategic" and running
multiple years, he added that
it's non-exclusive. That doesn't
mean we'll see a Sprint or a T-
Mobile iPhone anytime soon,
but it does raise the odds that
customers of those carriers
will start wishing for such a
thing.
Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/11/AR2011011107219.html
You can stop asking, "When
will Verizon get the iPhone?"
One of the longest lock-ins in
the technology business ended
shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday,
when Verizon Chief Operating
Officer Lowell McAdam told a
crowd of invited journalists
and analysts that Verizon
Wireless would begin selling
its version of Apple's iPhone 4
on Feb. 10.
Wireless users had been
hoping for the news since not
long after the iPhone's debut
as an AT&T exclusive in the
summer of 2007. Few gadgets
have been tied to a single
service provider in one market
for that long, and few have
been as coveted as Apple's
smartphone.
Apple's move breaks open a
monopoly that had drawn
criticism among consumer
advocates, terminates AT&T's
most-favored-carrier status
with the Cupertino, Calif.,
company and elevates Verizon
as a new long-term partner
for the maker of the iPhone,
iPad, iPod and Mac computers.
"Today, two industry
innovators are coming
together to deliver something
that consumers have been
hungry for for years,"
McAdam said as he opened
the event.
Apple Chief Operating Officer
Tim Cook returned the
compliment a few minutes
later. "We have enormous
respect for the company this
team has built and the hard-
won loyalty they've won from
their customers," he said.
"This is just the beginning of a
great relationship between
Apple and Verizon."
AT&T has a great deal to lose,
with published estimates
putting its potential subscriber
losses to Verizon as high as 5
million to 6 million over the
next two years. Its spokesman
put out a consistent message
Tuesday: "ForiPhone users
who want the fastest speeds,
the ability to talk and use
apps at the same time, and
unsurpassed global coverage,
the only choice is AT&T."
The arrival of the iPhone 4 on
Verizon also resets the
competitive equation between
Apple's mobile devices and
their biggest competitor,
smartphones running Google's
Android operating system.
Users who wanted a Web-
capable device with access to
thousands of add-on
applications but did not want
to sign up with AT&T have
often gone with Android
phones. Verizon pushed
Google's software especially
hard - NPD Group analyst Ross
Rubin estimated that 70
percent of the carrier's third-
quarter smartphone sales
consisted of Android models.
But Rubin note d that Verizon
is leaning on Android phones
to launch its 4G - short for
"fourth-generation" - LTE
mobile broadband service,
while the iPhone 4 will only be
able to connect to its much
larger but slower 3G network.
Rubin also suggested that
Android could get more
support from an unexpected
quarter: "AT&T will dive into
Android as they lose their
iPhone exclusivity."
Verizon Wireless, based in
Basking Ridge, N.J., will start
selling its version of the
iPhone 4 on Feb. 10, although
its current customers can pre-
order it as of Feb. 3. A version
with 16 gigabytes of storage
will sell for $199.99 with a
two-year service contract, and
a 32GB model will cost
$299.99, almost exactly the
same prices AT&T charges.
Would-be iPhone users on
Verizon will need to sign up
for a voice plan, starting at
$39.99 a month, and data
service, though the carrier
isn't saying what that will cost.
Most of its smartphoneusers
now pay $29.99 a month for
unlimited data access.
AT&T's voice plans cost about
the same, but it stopped
selling unlimited data service
last summer and instead
charges $25 a month for a
maximum of 2GB. Neither
carrier includes text
messaging in those plans.
Switching to a Verizon iPhone
may not be as automatic or
easy as ads may suggest.
Disgruntled AT&T subscribers
who haven't finished up their
service contracts will have to
pay early-termination fees if
they want to switch. They also
won't be able to bring their
old iPhones to Verizon, since
the two carriers use
incompatible wireless
technologies. In addition,
they'll lose the ability to
browse the Web over a
mobile-broadband signal
during a phone call, and the
Verizon phone, unlike AT&T's,
won't work in most foreign
countries.
The Verizon-Apple news left
open the possibility of the
iPhone appearing on other
carriers. Although Cook
described the arrangement as
"strategic" and running
multiple years, he added that
it's non-exclusive. That doesn't
mean we'll see a Sprint or a T-
Mobile iPhone anytime soon,
but it does raise the odds that
customers of those carriers
will start wishing for such a
thing.
Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/11/AR2011011107219.html
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