14 DAY TRIAL // Although nothing is official for the time being, it seems that Verizon Wireless should start selling the popular Apple iPhone in January 2011, as the exclusivity AT&T enjoys on the iconic device would end. This is not the first time we learn such news, but the new rumor seems to have more consistency than previous ones, according to a recent article on Bloomberg, which cites “two people familiar with the plans.”
As stated above, the list of rumors, suggestions, forecasts and the like regarding the launch of Apple's iPhone on Verizon's airwaves is a quite long one. Last year, some of these rumors were focused on the release of an iPhone model that would sport LTE connectivity, which would become the first 4G device Verizon brings to the US. However, none of these suggestions proves real in the end, though it seems that a Verizon-bound iPhone is not excluded from the equation.
Earlier this year, some suggested that AT&T would lose the exclusivity on Apple's iPhone before the latest model was released (iPhone 4). Nothing of the kind happened at the time, but it seems that it should happen by the end of the ongoing year. Rumors on a CDMA version of the iPhone being set to start shipping from its manufacturing companies to Apple sometime in October emerged into the wild a while ago, and Bloomberg's assertion that Verizon would launch the device in January is in line with these suppositions.
AT&T would certainly be unhappy with the move, especially since there are great chances that it would lose some of its iPhone customers as soon as other carriers launch the device. Verizon already announced its interest in having the iPhone available for its users, and Apple might consider distributing the device via more US carriers as a means to boost revenues. All these point towards a highly probable iPhone launch at Verizon in the not too far future, but nothing is certain until an official announcement is made, that's for sure.