It’s not quite the Verizon headline many Apple fans are hoping for. But it’s a start.
Despite the ongoing rumors that the iPhone is inbound for the Verizon network, it now appears that Verizon and Apple will first partner up on a new iPad venture.
At least, that’s what Verizon seems to be hoping for.
On Wednesday, Verizon said that “it expects next year to launch a software application that will allow FiOS TV customers to watch live television on tablet computers.”
With a heightened awareness of the importance of content in the mobile video and live TV space, Verizon Chief Information Officer Shaygan Kheradpir says his company is now “in talks with content providers such as Time Warner Inc. to gain rights to extend programming agreements to tablet computers.”
According to Reuters, Verizon “had 3.8 million customers for FiOS Internet customers and 3.2 million for FiOS TV at the end of the second quarter.” The FiOS network, however, has been launched in markets with about 18 million people.
Naturally, some will see this latest move on the part of Verizon as an entree to bigger and bolder moves into Apple territory. But for now, we simply have to take the news on face value. Verizon wisely sees huge potential in the mobile space and is hitching its wagon to the iPad’s star – one of the smartest courses of action the wireless carrier can possibly take to capitalize on a prime opportunity.
