Steve Jobs Wanted Apple to Be the Exclusive iPhone Carrier

Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Stanton, who was close to the late Steve Jobs during the iPhone’s development period, said Apple wanted its phone to run on WiFi, not on a wireless operator’s network.

A move that would have been most typical of Jobs, the iPhone would have worked on an exclusive WiFi frequency, Stanton said.

“He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum,” said the venture capitalist on Monday at the Law Seminar International Event in Seattle. “That was part of his vision.”

Apple, however, ended up signing with AT&T to carry the first iPhone in 2007. The two companies’ partnership was perpetuated through the release of several new iPhone versions.

Last year, Cupertino also took Verizon Wireless on board for its CDMA network and this year, the company is selling its iPhone 4S with three carriers in the United States, including Sprint.