Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg has asked Apple to let the company carry the iPhone, according to a report from the Associated Press. The iPhone is currently available only through AT&T in the U.S. in a five year exclusive deal that expires as early as 2010 or 2011 (neither company has stipulated when the five year period began).
Mr. Seidenberg made the comments in a talk for the Council on Foreign Relations, where he also cited a report from the Wall Street Journal that said Apple in the process of developing a CDMA version of the iPhone, and that this version could be intended for Verizon. In that report, the newspaper said that the phone would be released in the Summer of 2010, wherever its intended market lies.
According to the AP, Mr. Seidenberg didn’t actually confirm that story, nor did he say when, or even if, the company would be able to strike a deal with Apple, but the telecom has asked for such a deal.