So the rumour is that the Big Blue is positioning the latest smartphone out of Research In Motion, the BlackBerry Torch to be a replacement for when AT&T finally loses exclusivity over the iPhone, and it is further rumoured that once the Big Blue loses the iPhone a Verizon iPhone will appear.
Rumour also has it that said Verizon iPhone, a CDMA version of the iconic smartphone which has been called for by so many in the past could possibly make its debut in early 2011 with January being the favoured month.
Of course at the moment all this is rumour and no hard evidence has been thus far offered. But if, and it’s a big if, AT&T does lose exclusivity, and again if Apple gives the iPhone to Verizon, would the AT&T BlackBerry Torch be a big enough smartphone to stand up against the so far mythical Verizon iPhone?
Personally I think that if AT&T really believes they can keep hold of their customer base with the BlackBerry Torch if a Verizon iPhone appears, then they are deluding themselves. The reason for this is firstly Verizon has a better network and no doubt many existing AT&T customer will eventually jump ship, and what new customer could AT&T get if they don’t have the iPhone? Well that’s hard to say but it would definitely have a considerable impact on the Big Blue.
There have been a few rumours that when Apple does give the iPhone to the Big Red, the Verizon iPhone would be 4G enabled so it could play nice on Verizon’s LTE network. Personally I feel this would be a good move by Apple and with both Verizon’s large customer base and their LTE 4G network in the offering it must look an attractive possibility to Apple for an iPhone 5.
So having said all that, what do our readers think? Would AT&T be able to survive losing the iPhone, would they be able to battle against a Verizon iPhone with the BlackBerry Torch, or is AT&T looking at becoming a backbencher in the mobile arena?