Katie MarsalVerizon Communications President Lowell McAdam spoke with Bloomberg about the deal between Apple and Verizon for the iPhone, which took years to reach. He said each company agreed to trade "inside information" about each others' upcoming products and services.
Apple and Verizon also erected CDMA towers at the iPhone maker's Cupertino, Calif., campus, allowing both companies to do extensive testing with Apple's smartphone in an effort to avoid network issues. AT&T's own network issues have been a public relations concern for the company.
One of Verizon's top engineers worked at Apple's campus, helping the company learn CDMA technology, and McAdam himself even personally tested the new Verizon-compatible iPhone before it was announced on Tuesday. The phone is set to go on sale on Feb. 10, and existing Verizon customers will be able to preorder starting Feb. 3.
Negotiations between the two companies even personally involved Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. McAdam also said the lack of a Verizon logo on the new iPhone 4 was not a "major issue" for the company.
"We worked probably six or nine months on the technical side of this and saw we could make this work," McAdam said in the interview. "Then we did the commercial side. The commercial side took us a day."
The new, close partnership with Verizon has already lead to information leaks, including numerous reports on the Verizon iPhone announcement well before Tuesday's press conference. And also this week, Verizon's chief financial officer, Francis Shammo, let slip that Apple is planning a new iPad with an integrated CDMA radio that will allow the touchscreen tablet to access Verizon's network without the need for a MiFi portable hotspot.
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46 Comments
Since it's been said that they didn't sign an exclusivity agreement, I'd like to see Sprint and T-Mobile signed on when the new iPhone is announced this summer. That would seem to be the right time.
This is probably what AT&T did as well. What's the point of this? The purpose of the phone, regardless of carrier, is not just to work on Apple's campus - it's to work anywhere. Does Apple still think they can release phones without doing extensive testing in the real world? Because if they do, they're setting themselves up for another P.R. disaster if Verizon doesn't have enough bandwidth to support the users.
According to news reports, Verizon's website has already had problems. If they weren't smart enough to get more server capacity for the crush, do you really think they've expanded their network enough to support the crush of new iPhone users?
This is probably what AT&T did as well. What's the point of this? The purpose of the phone, regardless of carrier, is not just to work on Apple's campus - it's to work anywhere. Does Apple still think they can release phones without doing extensive testing in the real world? Because if they do, they're setting themselves up for another P.R. disaster if Verizon doesn't have enough bandwidth to support the users.
According to news reports, Verizon's website has already had problems. If they weren't smart enough to get more server capacity for the crush, do you really think they've expanded their network enough to support the crush of new iPhone users?
They need a nearby tower to test within the Apple campus at full strength. They can then adjust the signal strength as need to do more testing (going into shielded rooms, etc). Apple has already acknowledged that they do a lot of real world testing all round the place and that it carries the risk of the phone be 'stolen' or misplaced (left at a bar). Don't think that Apple doesn't do a lot of real world testing on their phones. I would be there are engineers walking amongst us with 5th gen iPhones already if not very soon.
In other news, the CDMA ipad is cancelled.
Just kidding. Apple may have told them it was OK to spill. It changes nothing, really.
This is probably what AT&T did as well. What's the point of this? The purpose of the phone, regardless of carrier, is not just to work on Apple's campus - it's to work anywhere. Does Apple still think they can release phones without doing extensive testing in the real world? Because if they do, they're setting themselves up for another P.R. disaster if Verizon doesn't have enough bandwidth to support the users.
According to news reports, Verizon's website has already had problems. If they weren't smart enough to get more server capacity for the crush, do you really think they've expanded their network enough to support the crush of new iPhone users?
Of course they do extensive testing. I suppose you haven't heard of the Gizmoto phone story?
But in order to do prototype testing under ideal conditions, which must be done first, they need a real tower outside of their own labs.