Verizon Aiming to Wrest Control of the iPhone from AT&T?

However, the USA Today mentions 2010 in its piece, which, assuming the 2010 exclusivity that AT&T is rumored to have on the iPhone is true, would not make sense.

Of course, neither AT&T nor Apple has been open to revealing the exact length of that contract.

Additionally, Verizon uses CDMA, a totally difference technology from the current iPhone's GSM, and one that is not used much outside the US. It is true that Verizon has shipped several
"world phones," which have a SIM for use outside the U.S. and use CDMA inside the U.S., but it's still a nagging issue.

Of course, thing that would ease problems, but only on the data side of things, is the introduction of LTE for the data portion of Verizon's service. LTE is a world standard, and will be adopted by AT&T as well.

Verizon plans on trials later this year and introduction into as many as 30 markets by 2010.

You can bet that many unhappy with the iPhone's performance on AT&T (and the AT&T network, period) would move if this deal came to pass, and that would mean more $$$ for Apple, as the current iPhones wouldn't work on Verizon's network.

We wouldn't see Apple migrate exclusivity to Verizon, though. You'd probably see both GSM (AT&T) and CDMA (Verizon) versions at the same time.

Still, the Verizon / Apple rumor has floated for some time. Is this the time it finally becomes reality?