Verizon turned down iPhone
Cingular (now AT&T) may not have been Apple’s first choice for a partner for its iPhone, reports USA Today. The newspaper said that Verizon Wireless passed on an opportunity to become the exclusive distributor of the phone almost two years ago.
Verizon Wireless vice president Jim Gerace claims that his company turned Apple down because they “couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.” Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly fees, control over how iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, Gerace said.
This article saddens me, because I am a Verizon Wireless customer, and it just makes sense since they have such a high-speed internet available for the wireless phone with their EV-DO (EVolution Data Optimized) network, and well Cingular barely does if you count EDGE. But I understand that Verizon wants to keep its profits since really iPhones won't be the largest part of their market there is no reason for Apple to get such a large portion of their earnings. But still I am sad, I would totally have renewed for a couple years, maybe even dropped a few hundred dollars for an iPhone. Sad Day.
HT: MacWorld