Verizon looking to poach iPhone from AT&T, report says
April 27, 2009
Apple's hugely popular iPhone, which is carried exclusively on the AT&T wireless network, could be changing carriers, according to a report in USA Today.
The newspaper reported that Verizon has been in "high-level" discussions for several months with Apple over the possible development of a new iPhone for Verizon customers, citing anonymous sources.
Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the iPhone in Europe.
AT&T has the exclusive U.S. distribution rights for the iPhone through next year.
AT&T would be loath to give up its exclusive partnership with Apple - AT&T signed up 1.6 million iPhone customers during the first quarter of this year, helping to boost wireless revenue by close to 40 percent.
Industry observers said any deal to bring a new iPhone onto the market under a different carrier would benefit the consumer most of all.
"They could pick the network they wanted to use: AT&T's or Verizon's," one expert said, according to USA Today. "It would finally give consumers choice and choice is a good thing."
The iPhone has spawned a new culture of applications, or "apps," which are simple programs that launch games, calculators and other tasks. Customers of Apple's app store recently reached 1 billion app downloads.
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