As 2011 approaches it looks certain that the new year will see AT&T lose its exclusive hold of the iPhone and Verizon to begin distributing the handset in the U.S. Speculation is now beginning to rise on when exactly this event will occur.
A report in BusinessWeek notes that Verizon plans to the release the iPhone at some point after CES 2011—which runs from January 6-9—but before February 14, 2011. BusinessWeek quotes a person familiar with the situation but gives no reasoning for the limited timeframe.
AT&T has had an exclusive hold on the iPhone in the U.S. since the original launch in summer 2007. Many countries outside of the U.S. including Canada who started out with exclusive carriers have since moved to a multiple carrier system. The problem with Verizon carrying the iPhone is that its network is not compatible with the current crop of iPhone hardware, which has required Apple to fashion a CDMA-based iPhone specifically for Verizon.