It’s been commonly rumored that Verizon was the first carrier Apple approach with the iPhone, only to be rebuffed because of Cupertino’s insistence on retaining control over their phone’s branding and bundled software. Heck, we referenced it the other day.
It looks like that rumor’s not actually true, though. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg has admitted in an interview with BusinessWeek that his company was “never in the running” as US carrier partner for the original iPhone’s launch.
The hang-up? CDMA, of course.
“We had good discussions with them,” Seidenberg told BusinessWeek, ”but it was clear to us that they weren’t looking to make a device for both sets of technologies.”
As to what brought Apple to Verizon now? Seidenberg hints that it might be to deliver a 4G iPhone sometime soon.
“We’re further along in 4G than others are. So I think this decision, from Apple’s standpoint, is also very strategic because they get to establish a relationship with us early in their cycles to take advantage of the 4G stuff that’s going to come out over the next 12 months.”
