Nobody cares about Verizon

One of the biggest expectations for Apple’s iPhone event yesterday was that a new piece of hardware, one capable of running on Verizon’s network, would finally be unveiled. This was obviously not the case and Steve and Co. gave no indication of any future announcements on Big Red’s front. There’s still the expected hardware announcement in June or July (Apple has said the iPhone is on a yearly hardware development cycle), but my guess is that we’ll see the event come and go without so much as a hint of Verizon being mentioned.

The iPhone doesn’t work on Verizon for technical reasons, not just because Steve may hold a grudge (Verizon originally turned down Apple’s offer for exclusivity… Oops!). Verizon’s network operates using the CDMA wireless protocl whereas AT&T and most other international carriers use GSM. There would need to be an entirely new wireless radio developed and a new manufacturing process introduced for the iPhone to support Verizon’s network, one which they are replacing with LTE (a GSM-based technology) as early as next year. Is it really worth it for Apple to change so much to support a network for one model/generation? Probably not. Remember that Apple directly attacked Verizon’s current network limitations in their own TV ads that aired back in November, 2009.

If we ever see the iPhone on Verizon, it’s not going to be while they operate a primarily CDMA-based network. I would expect Apple to extend AT&T’s exclusivity for another two years to wait and see what both AT&T and Verizon do with their LTE networks before making a final decision.

Verizon seems to have finally come around and publicly expressed interest in offering the iPhone. With the introduction of Android devices on their network, they have at least demonstrated a will to give device manufacturers and mobile Operating System developers more control over how their phones work. This former need for control over devices on their network was a major reason for initially rejecting the iPhone. It wasn’t long ago that nearly every device was subjected to their own proprietary, walled garden OS, even. Will Apple bite? Let’s see in a couple more years when Verizon is offering a faster and more up to date network. They’re definitely on the right track.