If Apple’s interim CEO Tim Cook considers what to do with the current carrier arrangement over the iPhone, rumors are flying that Verizon Wireless may be courting Cupertino for a similar exclusive arrangement for Apple customer loyalty. Apple’s contract with AT&T is supposed to last until 2010, and it is highly unlikely that AT&T will allow Apple to subsidize the phone under other carriers before that time. Verizon Wireless is known as the premier network in the US, and it is no surprise that Apple is interested in ridding the iPhone of AT&T’s spotty network in order to improve the image and performance of the phone. Verizon’s recent acquisition of Alltel will also make the network the largest in the country. Nevertheless, the second-generation iPhone had a successful debut. As a result, it makes some Apple fans, critics, and other people ask themselves if the debut would still be the same if Apple Inc. did not made an exclusive deal with AT&T. Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T, is very happy and very satisfied with the results of his company and Apple Inc.’s collaboration.
Verizon does not have the largest network its network covers 275 million with the merger with Alltel. AT&T’s Allover network covers 300 million. Plus quit drinking the Verizon Kool-aid and calling the AT&T network “SPOTTY”. I would not call the largest GSM provider in the US/World as “SPOTTY”. Do more research before reporting crap like that. Also Verizon will not get the iPhone ever, you might as well keep you wet dream CMDA iPhone dreams to yourself because it will not happen.
I would switch to Verizon the coverage is great.
Well thanks for the premature flame.
Let’s do the math:
* Verizon Wireless ended the first quarter with 67.2 million subscribers.
* AT&T had 71.4 million wireless subscribers at the end of the first quarter.
* Alltel brings 13 million subscribers to Verizon’s table.
* Add it up and Verizon Wireless now has roughly 80 million wireless subscribers and can tout being the top dog
Do your homework before you report crap like that.
And also, I have AT&T and their coverage is spotty because sometimes I can get signal where Verizon customers cant, but most of the time i’m left in the dark when my friends with Voyagers can get full signal right out of a major city.
Subscribers has nothing to do with network coverage and being “SPOTTY”. You need more than math lessons.
If coverage in your area is so bad maybe you should have went with Verizon in the first place, if you thought their network was so great. Here is a solution for you.. get you a great “Voyager” and buy and ipod. In my area AT&T is supreme and Verizon is spotty.
Sims,
I would never contradict a colleague. So consider this, if you will….
The amount of subscribers does not translate into the largest coverage. You statistics seem sound but you are seemingly, confusing their end results with each other.
Verizon may have the largest user base. But AT&T has the largest network.
However, any way you look at it? I do not think Verizon is getting an iPhone anytime soon
Who cares about which is the largest? Whoever has the best service wins. Where Im at, ATT has the best coverage, and verizon doesnt. Now Verizon does work well in the outskirts of town and in the small cities better than ATT because ATT doesnt care about the small markets and concentrates mainly on larger density cities. a shame really. i used to live in a smaller town and Verizon ruled where ATT sucked. But the main thing here is why would Apple want to retool thier line just to add CDMA to the iPhone? There are two major GSM providers in the states and most of Europe and Asia is GSM. I can see them adding another band to accomidate T-Mobile US. But to CDMA? C’mon.
Don’t forget about GSM .vs. CDMA !!!!! Verizon (CDMA) phones do NOT have a SIM card! No SIM swapping! No CARRIER swapping! World travelers beware.
I may be possible, verizon’s blackberry storm has a sim card for international travelers. They are making a way right now.
@ Rex
You didn’t mention coverage in the first post, you mentioned a ridiculous 300 million subscribers. Do you realize that that is almost the entire U.S. population? Where did you come up with that?
@Hilty
Im sorry but at least I didnt retaliate with refrences to wet dreams or inferences into my preferences. Just stating the facts, not contradicting.
@ Mes
If the phones do not allow for other carriers to be used with other sim cards, then you cant use it anywhere else anyway; unless your carrier has roaming partners in other countries. Virtually all phones are quad-band and world capable nowadays.
Man why in the blue hell are yall acting stupid? seriously? come on everyone knows that Verizon is way f***** better then AT&T it has nothing to do with the area! shit next time your on a 3 or more story building grab your iphone or whatever you have from at&t and go inside and see if you get asignal the chances are that you wont get any! how do i know this? because i use to have verizon and i never had a freaking droped call with them in my 7 years of service and with AT&T in my first month i kept having droped calls everytime i talked to my girlfriend, look quit fucking arguing! Verizon rules and AT&T sucks big time! and dont tell me “oh go to verizon then or you should it have stayed with verizon” because those are stupid remarks! trust me if verizon would it have gotten the iphone in the first place i would it have been a much more happier customer ! and one more thing, the service sucks so badly that almost every single time i text everyone they never get my messages and it doesnt matter if i have all or none of my bars so face it losers! VERIZON RULES!! so incase you retards dont understand me yet,,, i agree with sims! he sure as hell knows what hees talking about!
you guys are all a bunch of retards. Whether you like Verizon or AT&T, it usually depends on your location. I have had AT&T for 6 years and almost never have problems with the exception of a few “spots”, but verizon doesn’t get service in almost an entire city near me. In a different part of the country, it will be different. In other words, some will like AT&T and some will like Verizon. STFU and deal with that reality. k thx bye!
i also agree with sims.
was with verizon for five years before switching to ATT eight months ago. had great coverage in norcal with almost nil dropped calls, crystal clear call quality, and great customer service.
made the switch cuz i wanted a “better” phone. well, i got a better phone, but what’s the use when your coverage sucks! repeated dropped calls, and crappy, noisy call quality is what i’ve been getting.
i for one will make the switch if the iphone goes to verizon. verizon ftw!
You still dont get it.. Verizon is CDMA, ATT is GSM. You cannot and will not ever be able to use the iPhone on Verizon’s network. I like Verizon and I like ATT. Both have great networks. But I cannot go anywhere but the US with Verizon. If I unlock my iPhone, I can use a sim from anywhere I go overseas. So unless Apple plans on making a new iPhone with CDMA in it, all this is just wasted effort.
A transition to CDMA is not difficult from a manufacturing perspective, so Apple may be ready and willing to switch over. But I think Apple may make a GSM version just to supplement customers who do not use authorized providers and also to expand its customer base to the largest providers around the world. This translates into more sales and therefore more profit.. which is what Apple is concerned about anyway. Similar to Blackberry’s available on every providers network in the US.
Unfortunatly, I got sucked into the iPhone entertainment center too far and took the AT&T plunge. I’d like to have the choice to go to Verizon. AT&T has crappy coverage where I live. Verizon is the big dog here, and was where I used to live too.
Just to let you know verizon in the whole carebean has renamed to (Claro) and in the whole carebean exept for Puerto Rico Verison(now Claro) has changed to GSM ane Verison(now Claro) Is the carier for iphones all over the carebean Exept for Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico is unther the same contract that the whole united states with AT&T
By the way Verizon(Claro) is using GSM in Puerto Rico since July 08 and network is way better than AT&T here
Plus for an unlimited plan on the iphone you have to pay $130.00+ in AT&T and im paying $60.00 in Verizon (noe Claro) here in Puerto Rico i have a jailbroken/unlocked iphone i just bought on AT&T and i paid the contract droping fee because AT&T signal sucked
It looks like sims doesn’t understand coverage area and installed base. That is where the original 300 million comes from. Potential customers from the size of the network.
A little info… Verizon operates on CDMA technology (Limited to North Korea, a bit in Tokyo and parts of the US). AT&T operates on GSM technology (what 99.9% of plant earth operates on). Essentially, I personally want GSM for two reasons. First if my iPhone craps out I want to pull the SIM out and put it in another phone until I have time to deal with the problem. Two, if I am traveling internationally I like to have an unlocked phone that I can easily swap out SIM cards with and even import/export SIM contacts. With Verizon this is not possible. Also, recently I was traveling throughout Brazil and Argentina. Try walking around Rio De Janeiro with an iPhone… you will get mugged within an hour. I like choice and Verizon in this obscure scenario gives you no choice. Unless Verizon drops the price of their plans significantly it wouldn’t be worth it. Even if Verizon dropped the price of an iPhone plan AT&T would immediately follow to keep up. So unless Verizon offers an iPhone with Verizon service AND cheaper rates AND an empty SIM slot for my convenience I’ll never be even close to interested… But even in this scenario I wouldnt be able to take out the Verizon SIM and out it in another phone because Verizon has no SIM card… so if your iPhone breaks and its late at night or you are out of the country you can look forward to having no service until you can get to a Verizon store and stand in line for an hour..
A little info… Verizon operates on CDMA technology (Limited to North Korea, a bit in Tokyo and parts of the US). AT&T operates on GSM technology (what 99.9% of plant earth operates on). Essentially, I personally want GSM for two reasons. First if my iPhone craps out I want to pull the SIM out and put it in another phone until I have time to deal with the problem. Two, if I am traveling internationally I like to have an unlocked phone that I can easily swap out SIM cards with and even import/export SIM contacts. With Verizon this is not possible. Also, recently I was traveling throughout Brazil and Argentina. Try walking around Rio De Janeiro with an iPhone… you will get mugged within an hour. I like choice and Verizon in this obscure scenario gives you no choice. Unless Verizon drops the price of their plans significantly it wouldn’t be worth it. Even if Verizon dropped the price of an iPhone plan AT&T would immediately follow to keep up. So unless Verizon offers an iPhone with Verizon service AND cheaper rates AND an empty SIM slot for my convenience I’ll never be even close to interested… But even in this scenario I wouldnt be able to take out the Verizon SIM and out it in another phone because Verizon has no SIM card… so if your iPhone breaks and its late at night or you are out of the country you can look forward to having no service until you can get to a Verizon store and stand in line for an hour.. The defense rests…
Potential customers doesn’t mean anything. Theres a reason why Verizon has more subscribers. AT&T may be able to reach most of the countries citizens, but that is redundant when they have less subscribers than Verizon. Quality > quantity.
death to verizon
I would be sooo happy if ipohne comes to verizon. Verizon is much better than at&t,i had cingular, then at&t took over, so it became so stupid i switched to verizon….
I have used both Verizon and Cingular/AT&T and I have never had as much connection problems with AT&T as I did with Verizon. I travelled quite a bit being in the service and I needed coverage when I needed it. AT&T did have some areas of spotty reception (mostly out on the boondocks or lonely roads) so I switched to Verizon thinking the coverage would be better in those scenarios and that ended up being a huge mistake because it was even worse. I wanted to find that token “can you hear me now” guy and strangle him. There were times I couldn’t get a good reception near the city. I paid the money to go back to AT&T and am very much satisfied because I actually get better reception in the small towns and big cities. This is my own personal experience, so others may have had different experiences. To each his/her own.
Okay, AT&T did NOT take over Cingular. As a matter in fact, Cingular BOUGHT AT&T and then 8 months after the buyout, Cingular changed their name to AT&T because it was shorter, had good colors (blue; I didn’t like the Cingular Orange), and just because AT&T sounds better. They could do this because when Cingular bought AT&T, they also bought the copyright to the “AT&T” name and all other trademarks.
I think both carriers have their advantages/disadvantages. They are priced very close to the same with plans, data packages, etc. If you live in a bigger city you will have no problems but if you live inthe more rural area Verizon seems to work the best. I work for Verizon and can honestly say this: 1.We aren’t the cheapest and we know it. As a sales rep I say go with what works for you, if you get great coverage with TMobile then that might be a better match for you. 2.Internationally AT&T has us beat, but rural coverage wise we have them beat. It’s all in what you need out of your network. Travel internationally alot? Go AT&T. Live in a small town (more cows than people) Go Verizon. There are different carriers for a reason what works for me may not work for you. Variety is the spice of life. What WILL be nice is every carrier getting an opportunity to carry such an awesome piece of equipment. IPhones for everyone!
I hope.