Finally the rumors and hype are over: the iPhone will be available next month on Verizon Wireless. This is a big deal for Verizon, who should gain some subscribers and AT&T will undoubtedly lose some. But I do not see this a big game changer, at least not yet.
The reason I am not so sure this is a silver bullet for Verizon is that despite the marketing hype, their 3G network is, based on my personal and unscientific research, much slower than AT&T’s. Sure they have coverage in more spots than AT&T, but it is often so slow that it is the same as having no coverage. On more than one occasion, I have sat next to an iPhone user trying to do the same task (like find a restaurant on google maps) and while I am waiting for the first page to download the iPhone user is done and moved on. Given the slow response and that you can’t talk and surf at the same time, the ultimate customer experience on VZW will seem a lot like AT&T’s experience. My prediction is that VZW will earn a similar reputation as AT&T in just a short time.
Add the fact that and VZW’s track record of customer service is not that stellar and disabling competitive features (the GPS on the Palm Pre only talks to VZnavigator and you need an unofficial work around to navigate on google maps) will not earn it lots of raving fans.
I am not running out to get an iPhone on VZW even though I am a customer and I really dislike my current smart phone (it is a Palm Pre Plus and that is a subject for another post). I want to hear from early users to see if the network is as slow as I have experienced and what features they disabled. Plus with 4G supposedly around the corner, it might make sense to wait. Also, with some of the users leaving AT&T, their network might provide more consistent service and thus I might switch to them.
