One of the most popular phones in the country is going to Verizon. In a press conference on Jan. 11, Verizon and Apple both announced that the iPhone would be available through the Verizon network beginning Feb. 10. Now, if you’re an existing customer you can get your hands on a Verizon iPhone before anyone else by ordering it online beginning Feb. 3.
Verizon and Apple have not released much information about this new venture. Besides the day it is coming out and Verizon has sent emails to all of its existing customers informing them about the iPhone being available to them and what they can do to prepare for it. They are being tight lipped on the pricing for service but they have released that they will be matching AT&T’s pricing, $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB one. Two other things that are important are that they will be offering unlimited data and the phone will be able to be used as a mobile hot spot. Two things AT&T does not offer.
Since its debut back in 2007, the iPhone has been exclusively available to AT&T customers. So now a question arises, how will this effect AT&T? The iPhone is one of their best selling phones, so now that it will be available on another network sales are expected to drop.
A survey of 58,000 people conducted by Consumer Reports ranked AT&T as the worst cell phone service provider. So many existing customers may be waiting for this new Verizon iPhone with great anticipation. Although, current AT&T customers may not find it cheap to switch to Verizon since just last year AT&T raised their early termination fees in anticipation of this new iPhone release. Some customers may be locked in until their contract is up, especially since many renewed their contracts with the release of the iPhone 4.
Even with the blow of losing customers to Verizon, AT&T will not suffer major damages. They have been preparing to lose iPhone exclusivity for the past year. They are expected to focus more on other devices such as Google’s Android mobile software, which is a cheaper option to the iPhone.
Another question that arises from all of this is, what will happen to Sprint and T-mobile? Well, Apple does not seem to have any intention of releasing an iPhone in either network so for now their subscribers are expected to lose customers with this new Verizon iPhone.
Now, for those thinking of purchasing this new iPhone through Verizon please be aware that the iPhone 5 is due to be released this summer.
