iPhone 4 On Verizon - Do You Care?

At a special press event in New York City, NY yesterday, Verizon Wireless executives revealed that Apple iPhones for the Verizon wireless network would be available in stores on February 10, 2011. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook revealed that the deal with Verizon was possible as AT&T's exclusivity contract to carry the phone expired "recently."

This deal opens up a huge portion of the US mobile phone market to Apple. Since Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the US, more users will be able to purchase and use the iPhone. There is also the possibility that many current iPhone users, unhappy with AT&T service, will switch to Verizon and get the new Verizon version of the iPhone.

Cost
The cost of the Verizon iPhone will be the same price at which AT&T currently offers it (2 year contract pricing will be $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB).

Changes?
The phone is pretty much identical to the version of the iPhone 4 that is currently available at AT&T. There has been a modication of the internal antenna configuration in the Verizon version, as well as a slight modifcation to the volume and mute areas on the phone.

This version of the iPhone being released for Verizon will not support simultaneous voice and data, so facetime over the cellular data network will not work. The phone uses 3G (Verizon EV-DO), and not 4G or LTE. It is not a world phone. It  will only work on Verizon's network.

Impact
How much impact will this new market sector have on Apple? Will Verizon users turn out in droves to pick up iPhones for use on their carrier? There are a couple of areas I think we need to watch:

• Businesses - Business and corporate Verizon customers with multiple users may have stuck with RIM Blackberry, or picked up Android phones simply because those were the choices available to them, not because they preferred them. IT departments may start deploying iPhones rather than Blackberry devices, as they require no licensing for enterprise email.
• Users unhappy with AT&T - There are many AT&T users that have had many usage and data connectivity problems with their iPhones. Many if these users love the devices, but would jump to Verizon in a minute if the iPhone was available there.

Now that Verizon has ended months of speculation and will have Apple's iPhone, what does it mean? Do you care? Will you buy one? Will you be switching carriers to get one?

Verizon press release