Techcrunch reports sources claiming Verizon is racing to get 20-40 markets up and running on their 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network by Q1 2010 to coincide with an iPhone and iTablet launch.
Verizon is getting 60Mbps in 4G tests which is admittedly ZOMG fast, and since they’re going with LTE, this network will be theoretically compatible with AT&T and other GSM carriers also moving to the same technology.
[via The iPhone Blog]
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless said Friday it added 1.1 million net customers for its second quarter, which is behind rival AT&T (NYSE: T)’s subscriber growth for the same period.Verizon released its subscriber numbers before its quarterly earnings announcement, which will be issued Monday, and one day after AT&T reported a strong second quarter with 1.4 million new customers. Verizon is still the largest U.S. carrier with 87.7 million customers, but it is facing increased competition in the high-end and low-end markets.
Apple’s iPhone 3GS had a successful launch during the second quarter, and it sold over a million units worldwide during its debut weekend. While not all of these were for AT&T, the iPhone has proven to be capable of poaching high-spending customers away from Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile. AT&T said it activated 2.4 million iPhones in the quarter, and more than two-thirds of its new subscribers came for Apple’s touch-screen smartphone.
[via Information Week]
AT&T (NYSE: T) is defending itself as it is facing increased scrutiny from the government
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., is urging the Department of Justice and the Federal Communication Commission to take a closer look at the pricing power that AT&T and Verizon Wireless have over the mobile phone market, as the companies have over 150 million subscribers between them. Additionally, Kohl wants the government to take a look at the competitive implications of exclusive handset agreements.AT&T is the sole provider of Apple’s iPhone, and it has been a major driver of new subscriber growth. The carrier reportedly is trying to extend this exclusivity a few years longer, although there are persistent rumors that Apple will eventually bring an iPhone to Verizon (NYSE: VZ).
“Exclusive handsets have provided U.S. consumers the most advanced devices in the world at distinctly affordable rates,” said James Cicconi, AT&T’s senior VP of legislative affairs, in a letter to Kohl. “By allowing a carrier and a manufacturer to share the enormous risks and costs of bringing an inventive but unproven new device to market, exclusive arrangements both quicken the pace of technological advancement and incentivize the carrier to offer even greater handset subsidies to its customers.”
With AT&T’s exclusivity agreement due to expire in the next year, pressure is mounting amongst Verizon customers and shareholders for Verizon to come to some sort of agreement with Apple to offer the iPhone on their network.
About 25% of AT&T’s iPhone customers came from Verizon. Verizon is widely regarded as having the nation’s best coverage, and a speedier new LTE data network is coming in the next year. I think Verizon would get most, if not all of their prodigal customers back from AT&T if they offered the iPhone.
See full post here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-galloway/is-verizon-getting-the-ip_b_225686.html
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