Verizon Chats About iPhone Availability And New Tiered Data Plans

Verizon Wireless Smartphone Line-Up

There’s no additional clues on when AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity will expire, following interviews with the top executives from both Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T) this week at a Goldman Sach’s investors conference. In fact, both CEOs expertly changed the subject to something they were more comfortable talking about.

AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson’s comments on Tuesday focused on downplaying the impact of losing the exclusivity, and today, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) CEO Ivan Seidenberg turned the questions into an opportunity to pitch its upcoming 4G network. Hopefully, he said the faster network speeds would spur companies, like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), to build products for the carrier. “At some point, Apple will get with the program,” he said.

The top U.S. carriers are typically very competitive, matching each others moves step-by-step when it comes to launching new phones and services — that is, except for the iPhone. But in Seidenberg’s interview today he refused to consider it a handicap, the WSJ reports. “We don’t feel like we have an iPhone deficit,” he said. “We would love to carry it, but we have to earn it.”

Verizon also has chosen to wait to match AT&T’s new tiered data pricing plans. Earlier this year, AT&T started offering a $25 a month plan that capped data at 2 GB a month, which was $5 cheaper than an unlimited plan. It also introduced new low-end plans that offered entry points for first-time data customers. Stephenson said Tuesday the new plans have been successful at signing up subscribers who never had a data plan before. Today, Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel’s CEO Dan Hesse also commented on the matter, saying there were no immediate plans to meter wireless data. Hesse said at the investor conference: “We are watching very closely. But customers really do value simplicity.”

Today, Seidenberg said Verizon Wireless will likely introduce new plans over the next four to six months, but will approach it differently than AT&T. It will likely introduce the new plans along with availability of its upcoming 4G network through new bundles. “We’re not sure we agree yet with how they valued the data,” he said.

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