What the Verizon iPhone Means for Maryland Businesses
On January 11, 2011 the Verizon iPhone was announced.
It was a move that speculators and bloggers in the wireless industry had been anticipating for some time, and diehard supporters of AT&T, to whom the iPhone had been exclusive since its debut in 2007, said would never happen.
But happen it did.
The move comes at a time when complaints of constantly dropped calls and spotty reception from iPhone users at AT&T are common, especially in large markets like New York City.
With many current AT&T customers vowing to switch over to Verizon, who is the largest wireless provider in the country and has a sizable market share in Maryland, there is a legitimate worry that the Verizon iPhone could throttle the wireless network that many area business owners rely on.
Verizon assures its customers that this will not happen, however. The company’s reputation has been carefully cultivated over the years not just on the speed of its network, but on its reliability as well.
How reliable Verizon’s network will be once February 10th comes around is especially important to many business owners throughout the area who make use of Verizon’s “Friends and Family for Business” plan in order to supply themselves and employees with phones over which they regularly conduct business.
Besides the coveted device being on a larger, more reliable network, the Verizon iPhone will also sport the ability to act as a WiFi hot spot for up to five wireless devices. This means that various devices such as laptop and notebook computers can connect to the internet through the iPhone when its hot spot mode is turned on.
This could be especially advantageous for business owners and their colleagues, who could use the hot spot feature offered by the iPhone to exchange files and other information with each other on the fly in situations where an internet connection might not be readily available.
Current owners of the phone on AT&T’s network who want to adopt the Verizon iPhone should be forewarned, however. Switching from an iPhone 4 on AT&T to an iPhone 4 on its competitor’s network won’t be as simple as dropping the former and walking into a store belonging to the latter to sign a new contract and reactivate the phone.
AT&T’s network uses the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard for communications, which makes way for the use of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards. Verizon, on the other hand, uses the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard on its network. This means that the hardware differences between the AT&T iPhone and the Verizon iPhone are fundamentally different and, as a result, the former can’t be used on the latter’s network.
Another interesting thing to note about the debut of the iPhone on Verizon’s network is Verizon’s termination of their long-standing upgrade discount program.
Under the plan, commonly known as “New Every Two”, Verizon Wireless customers in two year contracts could upgrade their device at the time of contract renewal and apply a credit of anywhere between thirty and one hundred dollars to a new phone.
As of January 16th, new Verizon customers will not have that option and customers who were already on Verizon’s network will lose that benefit after their next contract renewal.
The move, some speculators believe, comes in anticipation of an influx of new customers as well as interest in the Verizon iPhone from existing customers. With the announcement that the upgrades program is being discontinued, it will be interesting to see if other wireless carriers follow Verizon’s lead, as many offer similar programs for their own services and devices.
The recent partnership between Verizon and Apple could ease the fears of some long time fans of Apple, who fear that the California based electronics giant’s stability could be in question following the announcement that Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of the company, would be taking a medical leave of absence from the company to focus on his health.
This comes after a similar leave of absence in 2009 when Jobs spent six months away from the company to focus on health concerns, which ultimately ended in him receiving a liver transplant in April of that same year.
With the coming of the Verizon iPhone in Maryland and every other area that the carrier services, there will likely be some noticeable changes in the telecommunications sector in the coming years.
Besides its wireless division, Verizon also provides internet services in many areas throughout the country. As of January 20th, the company is locked in legal proceedings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over recently passed regulations regarding net neutrality that don’t just address home internet usage, but usage over the wireless networks that many internet capable cellular phones are able to use.
It will be interesting to see how developments that come from this will affect not just business owners in Maryland, DC and Virginia who want to use the Verizon iPhone, but companies like WebMechanix SEO, who rely on the Verizon for internet services.
However events surrounding Verizon, the iPhone in Maryland and the battle over net neutrality unfold, the telecommunications sector is certainly in for a great number of changes over the next few years.