Verizon Testing iPads on Their Network

[Lotus Esprit]

According to Boy Genius Reports Verizon Wireless is now testing iPads on their network. On the heals of the AT&T announcement to discontinue the offering of an unlimited data plan this is great news.

Hopefully in the near future iPad and iPhone owners will be able to get service on Verizon's wireless network and stick it to AT&T.

[kjk]

The problem is, if these are on Verizon's current CDMA network, they will be a different iPad (no SIM, for one).

I hope Apple would wait til Verizon and AT&T both got their 4G-LTE networks up and running...that way they could stick to one iPad/iPhone model for both (and give us a choice of carriers AFTER we bought the hardware, not before)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lotus Esprit

According to Boy Genius Reports Verizon Wireless is now testing iPads on their network. On the heals of the AT&T announcement to discontinue the offering of an unlimited data plan this is great news.

Aren't Verizon CDMA? The iPad uses GSM, and won't work with CDMA networks.

[Tamara]

BGR might be a bit off. According to a Verizon exec, Verizon is not planning on supporting the iPhone or iPad.

Where Verizon is in the process of converting to LTE, it would not make sense for Apple to build a separate device for Verizon's CDMA network.

[HarryT]

Do AT&T have some kind of exclusive deal with Apple in the US? It seems a little strange, looking at it from the European perspective. Here you can buy a SIM from any operator you want and use it with the iPad - there's no "tie-in" to a single operator. Eg, Apple stores in the UK have 4 different SIMs on offer - just buy the one you want.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do AT&T have some kind of exclusive deal with Apple in the US? It seems a little strange, looking at it from the European perspective. Here you can buy a SIM from any operator you want and use it with the iPad - there's no "tie-in" to a single operator. Eg, Apple stores in the UK have 4 different SIMs on offer - just buy the one you want.

Yes. There is a lot of speculation about exactly what kind of exclusive deal they have, but it definitely must be pretty beneficial to both sides for it to have survived for 3 years...given AT&T's rather mediocre performance (speaking from personal experience, of course, I've heard that others have had no problems with AT&T and the iPhone)

[Lotus Esprit]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do AT&T have some kind of exclusive deal with Apple in the US? It seems a little strange, looking at it from the European perspective. Here you can buy a SIM from any operator you want and use it with the iPad - there's no "tie-in" to a single operator. Eg, Apple stores in the UK have 4 different SIMs on offer - just buy the one you want.

When the iPhone first came out it was an AT&T exclusive and has stayed that way to date. Everyone here complains about the poor coverage and for them to stop offering the unlimited plan 5 to 6 weeks after the 3G release is ridiculous. Jobs made a big deal of the 30.00 unlimited when he unveiled the iPad to the public in January.

[kjk]

I found this study pretty interesting:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364263,00.asp

I'm not a good judge of "speed", but I know about reliability, and I don't get it here

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do AT&T have some kind of exclusive deal with Apple in the US? It seems a little strange, looking at it from the European perspective. Here you can buy a SIM from any operator you want and use it with the iPad - there's no "tie-in" to a single operator. Eg, Apple stores in the UK have 4 different SIMs on offer - just buy the one you want.

There is no exclusive for the iPad. We have two GSM providers in the US - ATT and T-Mobile. T-Mobile uses a different standard for 3G but if you trim a T-Mobile SIM, you can use it in an iPad on their Edge network.

The other two major carriers use CDMA which is incompatible with GSM.

[scottjl]

http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-news...te-future.html

if that means anything, looks like the rumors of verizon testing are just that. rumors.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Lotus Esprit

When the iPhone first came out it was an AT&T exclusive and has stayed that way to date. Everyone here complains about the poor coverage and for them to stop offering the unlimited plan 5 to 6 weeks after the 3G release is ridiculous.

Everyone does NOT complain about poor coverage. I've had better coverage with ATT in the areas I frequent most than I ever did with my Verizon phone.

Even if there was an iPhone for Verizon, Verizon would suffer the same congestion problems as ATT in major metro areas as no one ever dreamed that the iPhone could be such a huge data hog or that people would use so much data.

[Lotus Esprit]

Originally Posted by Tamara

Everyone does NOT complain about poor coverage. I've had better coverage with ATT in the areas I frequent most than I ever did with my Verizon phone.

Even if there was an iPhone for Verizon, Verizon would suffer the same congestion problems as ATT in major metro areas as no one ever dreamed that the iPhone could be such a huge data hog or that people would use so much data.

Your coverage is predicated on what part of the country you are in. Some places are just plain terrible compared to the other carriers.

All networks are not created equal and it is hard for me to believe that AT&T did not have prior knowledge of the App store.

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, I can't see it happening anytime soon. Apple's contract with AT&T for exclusivity is through 2012, and others have noted it would be kind of silly for Apple to make a CDMA version rather than just waiting for the 4G networks to be the norm.

I'll be glad to have the option when it does come to Verizon. I've had nothing but great coverage and service with them for the past 8 or so years, and all my friends with AT&T (iPhones or other phones) bitch about reception all the time.

I don't really have much need for a smartphone though. But I could waver on that with having more options in data plans than the $30 plans. I wouldn't do much beyond e-mail and maybe read some news in apps, so I could go with a lower priced tier with a smaller data cap. I'd never get $30 a month worth of usage out of one though since I don't travel that much and I'm spend most of my time near computers.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Lotus Esprit

it is hard for me to believe that AT&T did not have prior knowledge of the App store.

I have zero doubt that AT&T learned about the iPhone SDK and App Store the same time the general public did.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Lotus Esprit

All networks are not created equal and it is hard for me to believe that AT&T did not have prior knowledge of the App store.

What does the app store have to do with things? The iPhone was bringing the network to its' knees well before the app store ever launched.