iPhone 5 Release Date: Verizon to Serve iPhone 5 Users Alongside Sprint and AT&T?
As the nation expects the postponed launch of the iPhone 5, rumors about the expected service carriers and details of deals abound.
Wireless carriers have been silent about any details regarding the iPhone 5. Yet, as Beatweek Magazine and other publications report, three carriers are expected to be servicing the new iPhone 5: AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, which is a newcomer to the Apple smartphone world.
"The LTE era marks the inflection point at which everything we thought we knew about U.S. carrier network quality goes out the window in favor of a new landscape which the three carriers are each building tower by tower as we speak," writes Bill Palmer of Beatweek.
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Meanwhile, many insiders suspect that the launch of the iPhone 4S was a technique meant to gain new iPhone users, just to keep them still on contract when iPhone 5 launches, and switch iPhone 4 users immediately to the iPhone 5.
"The 4S isn't meant to be an upgrade for iPhone 4 users - it's a lure to get new iPhone users in the door, and you iPhone 4 folks will get your iPhone 5 upgrade just in time for a new contract," Molly Wood of CNETwrote in October.
One of many rumors has it that the iPhone might come to Verizon in July 2012.
Meanwhile, as iPhone users anticipate the introduction of the iPhone 5, Verizon is reportedly slashing its prices on the iPhone 4S in order to compete with AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp., with the holiday shopping season just around the corner, as The Christian Post reported last week.
Last week, Verizon bumped up the amount of data it includes with smartphone plans - to 4 gigabits from 2 gigabits for $30 a month, for example.
Verizon's current offer makes its data plans, in some circumstances, less expensive than those from AT&T, the second-largest wireless carrier. AT&T's 4GB plan costs $45 a month, compared with Verizon's $30. Verizon also offers 10GB a month for $50, up from 5GB, and 20GB for $80, up from 10.
If the deal proves successful, the announcement could come as good news for customers waiting for the release of the iPhone 5, as it would lead to more affordable and better data plans for first time buyers, according to some reports.
