14 DAY TRIAL // The next version of Apple's iPhone should arrive on shelves at Verizon Wireless with support of global connectivity, the wireless carrier's Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo confirmed once again.
The next flavor of the smartphone, supposedly called iPhone 5, would offer Verizon's customers the possibility to enjoy roaming in the same countries as AT&T's version of the handset does, Gizmocrunch notes in a recent article, citing a story on Reuters.
As PCMag explains, the next Verizon iPhone would include support for both CDMA and GSM connectivity, and would use the latter only when abroad.
The current iPhone version available on Big Red's airwaves offers only CDMA connectivity, which would make it useless overseas.
Since most countries in Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia use only GSM technology, Verizon iPhone owners are confined to using the device only in the United States.
AT&T's version of the device, however, does not come with the same limitation, and its owners can travel abroad without fearing lack of connectivity options.
This is so because of the widespread use of GSM, the technology packed inside AT&T's iPhone as well, but lacking from Verizon's model.
Whether AT&T's device would include support for CDMA radios too, it remains to be seen. The good news, however, comes to Verizon's customers interested in the purchase of Apple's device.
Of course, this is not the first time Verizon's CFO confirms the said feature inside their next iPhone model, as he did the same about a month ago during the quarterly earnings conference call.
Shammo was supposedly referring to Apple's iPhone 5 model with this assertion, and not to the already rumored interim flavor of the device, allegedly dubbed iPhone 4S, which should be launched through Sprint and t-Mobile as well.
The former should arrive on shelves next year with support for LTE connectivity, while the latter is expected to be hit the market in fall this year, without the said 4G enhancement, but with support for HSPA+ networks.