With the clock running on AT&T’s exclusive contract for U.S. distribution of Apple’s iPhone, Verizon Wireless has more than once expressed interest in becoming the carrier partner. But a new report suggests that T-Mobile could be next in line.
In a report issued Thursday, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said his sources indicate that an iPhone distributed through a carrier other than AT&T is “becoming closer to reality than ever,” and it could happen “as early as this fall” or the first half of next year. He added that, when the expansion does take place, the popular device is more likely to be offered by T-Mobile than Verizon.
CDMA, UMTS/HSPA, LTE
A key to his logic is T-Mobile’s network. Both AT&T and T-Mobile’s 3G utilize UMTS/HSPA technology, but Verizon’s is CDMA.
Wu wrote that “both the new iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS support 3G at the 2100-MHz frequency and, from our understanding, the technical hurdle to support T-Mobile is minor compared to supporting CDMA technology” at Verizon.
Apple COO Tim Cook has dismissed the idea that his company would develop a CDMA phone, saying the technology is being phased out. But Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg has also said his company will be phasing out CDMA as it moves to next-generation 4G LTE, or Long-Term Evolution, technology.
Verizon is expected to launch LTE in at least 20 markets this year, and there has been speculation that an iPhone would be designed for that technology. LTE is also expected to be launched by AT&T and T-Mobile, among others.
There have been reports that Apple and Verizon were in negotiations about the iPhone as early as 2005, but the device maker’s demands for control and revenue sharing — including, at the time, a share of the carrier’s monthly service fee — were too much for Verizon. Since then,…