Notes from the Consultant's Jungle

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will be releasing a CDMA version of the iPhone, opening the door for service by Verizon Wireless.

Many in the industry view Verizon Wireless as having the best network of the leading carriers, but AT&T’s lock on the iPhone has been a real ace in the hole.¬† If Verizon is able to sell the iPhone along with AT&T, this parity in device availability may tilt users in favor of Verizon because of the popular sentiment about network superiority.¬† Indeed this morning’s Market Watch shows Verizon Wireless’ share price increasing on this news.

Availability of the iPhone through Verizon Wireless is reported to be sometime this Summer.

My personal preference is Verizon’s network, having been a customer of all the major providers.¬† I have been very disappointed however, in the device availability (or maybe “capability” is the better word) from Verizon Wireless.¬† For the past year and a half, I’ve been suffering through the awful Blackberry Storm smartphone (the reliability and functionality issues with this device are well documented elsewhere and need not be repeated here).¬† I was hopeful that the new Motorola Droid offered by Verizon Wireless might be a reasonable replacement, but I’ve been warned by my IT support of email synchronization problems.¬† The Storm has impacted my productivity enough so far, and I don’t need new headaches.¬† But the possibility of an iPhone, in just a few months time, is motivating me to suffer through my Storm just a little longer.