Report: Verizon iPhone to come next week

IDG News Service - The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon Wireless plans to announce on Tuesday that it will start offering the Apple iPhone.

Verizon is inviting journalists to an event on Tuesday in New York City at which Lowell McAdam, Verizon's president and COO, will speak. The invitations don't include any details about what he will say.

A Verizon spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Journal article cites a person familiar with the matter, who says Verizon will announce the availability of the iPhone on its network.

Since its initial launch, in the U.S. the iPhone has been available only from AT&T.

Rumors about a Verizon iPhone have popped up regularly almost since the initial launch of the iPhone. Many iPhone users complain about poor service on AT&T's network and believe they'd have better luck with Verizon.

In December, Verizon began rolling out high-speed LTE (Long-Term Evolution) wireless technology, launching it in 38 markets.

At CES in Las Vegas this week, the carrier announced ten devices, including phones and tablets, that will become available this year to run on the network.

It's not clear whether a Verizon iPhone announcement next week would involve an LTE-compatible iPhone.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com