Aug 23, 2010 15:48 GMT  ·  By

There have been countless rumors saying Apple is planning to sign with Verizon over a CDMA-capable iPhone, with one Wall Street analyst now saying that Apple is close to inking that deal, as the deal with AT&T has spent its fuel.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu issued a note to investors today, signaling that Apple needs to expand the iPhone to another carrier in the U.S. next year, should the company want to maintain growth

In fact, he noted, Apple’s smartphone is nearing saturation on the AT&T network.

If Apple wants to keep a growing user base, it will have to begin a relationship with a different carrier.

Verizon seems to be the primary candidate, with some 93 million subscribers.

"From our checks with industry and supply chain sources and a recent SEC 10-Q filing by AT&T mentioning that exclusivity with 'a number of attractive handsets' could end, we have conviction that the iPhone could likely finally be at another carrier besides AT&T here in the U.S. in 2011 and potentially at Verizon in 2011 or 2012…”, Wu wrote.

“We believe the argument for AAPL to pursue Verizon sooner than later is to address the growing presence of Android. What better way to do that than where Android has seen the majority of its success?", he added.

Still, there is still a lot of talking to be done between Apple and Verizon Wireless, before any deals are signed, Wu cautions.

"From our understanding, the Verizon negotiations are not finalized with important details still being ironed out, including technology and economics,” he says.

“We think it is premature to rule out T-Mobile or Sprint (who also uses CDMA but WiMAX for 4G). In addition, there is the possibility of multiple U.S. carriers being signed," Wu notes.