Current iPhone Owners Itching to Switch to Verizon
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If Apple wants to protect its market share, it really has
no choice but to expand the availability of its devices. This is especially
true given the poor performance of AT&T's overburdened 3G network. It was
never up to the demands of the data-hungry iPhone population, and it only got
worse. There are millions of would-be and current iPhone users out there who will
switch in a heartbeat or finally buy one once there's a choice of
carriers.
Verizon Wireless, meanwhile, has built out the most
ubiquitous wireless network in the United States.
It may not have the fastest 3G coverage on the planet, but it has it in more
places by a substantial margin. Likewise, its voice service is available nearly
everywhere, including rural areas. This is something that AT&T has yet to
accomplish, despite its claims to the contrary.
So Tuesday's announcement of a Verizon Wireless iPhone is
really a must for Apple, and a very nice thing for Verizon, which was already
kicking AT&T to the side of the road and now will be able to do it more effectively.
When the LTE iPhone 5 is announced this summer, both companies will get the
device, but only Verizon Wireless will actually have a network to support it.
AT&T's network will be in its formative stages, but unless you live in one
of the lucky areas, you're going to be stuck with AT&T's 3G network
regardless of your phone's 4G support.
There's also some speculation as to the radio support
that the Verizon Wireless iPhone will have. Some have suggested that it will be
just a CDMA version of the existing iPhone 4, with no other changes. Others
have suggested that it will be a dual-mode phone capable of supporting CDMA and
GSM, allowing the device to work globally. The latter would simplify the
manufacturing process for Apple; the company would only have to make one phone
for everyone.
Making a world phone would also fit some of Verizon's
previous smartphone releases. The idea apparently being that if you can sell an
executive a single phone that will work anywhere, you're more likely to keep
them as a customer. There's merit to this argument, but whether it will happen
is, at this point, pure speculation.
On the other hand, Apple's current practice of doing away
with exclusive agreements also supports the idea of a dual-mode device. With
the right radios, the same phone could also be sold to T-Mobile and Sprint as
well as smaller regional carriers, giving the company even more market share,
and yet another front in the fight against Android.
Again, some of this is pure speculation. I'm expecting a
CDMA phone in the announcement and maybe a dual-mode phone when the iPhone 5 is
announced. But I'm prepared to be surprised.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazineÃÃÃs Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
