Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg dismissed suggestions that the iPhone’s going mass-market by claiming it a conspiracy. Bitter, much?

It’s hard not to call it sour grapes when Seidenberg told the Financial Times “There goes the conspiracy again…you’re declaring them a winner before they’ve earned it on the field.”

What conspiracy, Mr Seidenberg? That Apple’s iPhone gets the kind of press that Verizon can’t hope to generate for any of its data plans, let alone a single mobile device? It’s a shame that Verizon’s hot-headed CEO is reacting, instead of thinking up ways to keep Verizon in the public eye. AT&T has the iPhone, Sprint has the Samsung Instinct. Verizon, unfortunately, doesn’t have a single ‘killer’ device to bring to market and steal either of the operators’ thunder.

Seidenberg thunders on about how Steve Jobs has no monopoly on innovation. “And Steve Jobs eventually will get old . . . I like our chances." Verizon recently bought fifth-largest US wireless company Alltel, making Verizon Wireless the leading mobile operator with 80 million customers.

Vodafone entertained the notion of buying over Verizon Communications last year but Seidenberg thinks of Verizon as the hunter, not the hunted.

"In the long term, my view is that we’re the hunter. That’s the way I see it, and I’m trying to develop a new generation of hunters."

Fighting words, Mr. Seidenberg. Verizon certainly seems bullish – what with recently spending $23bn on a high-speed, fibre optic network offering theoretical speeds of 50 megabits a second. But though Verizon Wireless may be the biggest carrier, the question here is whether Verizon can keep those 80 billion customers and how they’ll make sure they won’t go running to the competition. Well, in ways apart from annoying long-term phone contracts, that is.

Related:

The fundamental disconnect that is AT&T

Bioware might make iPhone games

Verizon disses iPhone, digs Android

The latest on the iPhone and Verizon

AT&T sues Verizon over ‘there’s a map for that’ ads

Entry was posted on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am under News, iPhone.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
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