Submission + - Verizon's "Open Network" is Not Really tha (techcrunch.com)
saccade.com writes: "TechCrunch is reporting
that Verizon's "Open
Network" is not really so open. Reporter Erick Schonfeld
"...asked Verizon whether any of the new apps developed for
the bring-your-own devices would also be available to its existing
customers who bought their phones through Verizon. The answer
for now is, 'No.' Although a spokesperson tells me that they are
looking into it. Unless it figures that out, Verizon is not really
building an open network. It is building a two-tiered network:
One for its preferred customers who play by its rules (i.e., its
current 64 million subscribers), and one for the rabble not satisfied
with its choice of phones and apps.
...If there is no crossover capability on the apps, then the "open" part of Verizon's network will be barren. The appeal of developing an open app for Verizon would be to gain access to those 64 million subscribers. Nobody is going to go through the trouble of creating apps just for the handful of people who want a CDMA phone that Verizon does not already sell. Making the whole open network even less appealing will be the fact that these phones are not likely to be subsidized by Verizon, and thus far more expensive.""
...If there is no crossover capability on the apps, then the "open" part of Verizon's network will be barren. The appeal of developing an open app for Verizon would be to gain access to those 64 million subscribers. Nobody is going to go through the trouble of creating apps just for the handful of people who want a CDMA phone that Verizon does not already sell. Making the whole open network even less appealing will be the fact that these phones are not likely to be subsidized by Verizon, and thus far more expensive.""
