Additional Verizon/iPhone rumors flare, January release date mentioned

A good rumor never dies. Per a recent Bloomberg report, two anonymous sources have stated that Verizon will be getting its own version of the iPhone come January. The addition of the iPhone would provide a boost to Verizon, as the device has shown itself to be both a hit with the critics and with the general public. The iPhone 4, which first launched last week, has already sold 1.7 million units in the span of three days.

Rumours of Verizon snagging its own version of the iPhone have been around for years now, as no one has been quite sure of when AT&T’s exclusivity agreement with Apple was slated to end. Despite the fact that Apple and AT&T’s relationship on the iPhone has been hugely profitable for both companies, Apple could expand its share of the smartphone market even further by offering its device to Verizon’s 93 million wireless subscribers. The fact that Verizon and AT&T will both be supporting the GSM-based LTE by the start of 2012 also makes offering the iPhone on multiple carriers more enticing, since Apple won’t need to build two different models that work on CDMA and GSM networks.

A Verizon version of the iPhone would still initially have to operate on a different wireless standard than the current version of the iPhone, which is designed to run on AT&T’s GSM-based HSPA network. Verizon’s 3G services employ the CDMA-based EV-DO Rev. A standard and would likely still be used as the company’s predominant wireless data network early next year despite the fact that it plans to launch its LTE network commercially later this year.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.