
March 15, 2011
After months of buzz and unsubstantiated rumors, Fortune contributor Sarah Ellison confirmed in late October that the Verizon iPhone does exist, that it will operate on a G4 network and that it will ship in early 2011. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the first version of the phone will work outside the United States. In a major announcement earlier that same month, Verizon COO Lowell McAdam said that Verizon Wireless would do away with its “walled-garden” approach because “in a 4G world, we need to turn that guarded model inside out.” The operator will transform its business model, McAdam says, and open its network, applications and location technologies to outside developers.