Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has sent out a press advisory, saying that it will host an early morning press conference with Google (NSDQ: GOOG). Participants include Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless’s CEO and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman and CEO. The event will take place at 7 a.m. PST, which is pretty much the last opportunity to sneak in a significant announcement before CTIA officially kicks off on Wednesday in San Diego. UPDATE: For the details, see our most recent post here.
While the advisory doesn’t provides details, Verizon has been expected to announce a Google Android phone for some time. Presumably, its unveiling would occur before the busy holiday season, where cellphone sales pick up. The announcement is significant for the No. 1 U.S. carrier because its smartphone line-up until now has mainly been focused on RIM’s BlackBerry. Therefore, in order for Verizon to have a more complete portfolio and to continue to compete effectively against AT&T (NYSE: T), which has an exclusive with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), it’s expected to add not only Android devices, but phones from Palm (NSDQ: PALM), too.
Clearly, the competition between Verizon and AT&T is heating up. Verizon Wireless released a TV commercial today poking fun at AT&T’s network, which has been criticized as slow or unresponsive due to network issues. The ad, which played during the Green Bay Packers game today, had the tagline of “there’s a map for that,” just like Apple’s campaign “there’s an App for that.” In Verizon’s case, the “map” signifies where they have 3G coverage and AT&T doesn’t.

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