“Apple is making a version of the iPhone that Verizon Wireless will sell early next year, according to people familiar with the matter. The carrier has been meeting with Apple, adding capacity and testing its networks to prepare for the heavy data load from iPhone users,” Spencer E. Ante reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“The carrier is seeking to avoid the kind of public-relations hit AT&T Inc. took when iPhone users overtaxed its network, especially in New York and San Francisco,” Ante reports. “In an interview last week, Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone wouldn’t comment on the iPhone. But he said the company’s network would be up to any challenge now that it has withstood the surge of data use on Android smartphones.
“At the end of September, Verizon Wireless had some nine million Android subscribers, up from none a year earlier, said Matthew Goodman, a senior analyst with Majestic Research,” Ante reports. “AT&T is carrying a heavier load—16.5 million iPhone customers at the end of September, Mr. Goodman estimates.”
Ante reports, “AT&T’s executives have acknowledged that they underestimated the load that iPhone users would bring. Late last year, the company embarked on a major effort to improve service, particularly in New York City and San Francisco, boosting network spending by $2 billion. While much of the work has been completed in New York, San Francisco isn’t yet up to the carrier’s own quality standards Efforts to repair AT&T’s image with customers are also lagging.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: And millions of Verizon customers who were thinking about settling for an Android phone instead decide to wait 90 or so days so they can get the real thing. Classic market freeze. Eric T. Mole wanted to play, but instead he and his “partners” are getting played by the grand master, Steve Jobs.
