Verizon president indicates 4G LTE network will be 'open access'

At a financial analysts' conference in New York this afternoon, the president of VZW's parent company Verizon strongly indicated that the wireless carrier's 4G network will also be open to the customer's choice of devices and applications.

Though not quite a confirmation from the wireless carrier itself, Verizon President Denny Strigl told a UBS financial analysts' gathering that Verizon Wireless intends to "increase its competitive edge" by allowing customers to bring their own device to VZW's fourth-generation LTE wireless network.

Last week, VZW made its historic announcement that its existing third-generation CDMA network will be opened up in the second half of 2008 to the customer's choice of devices and applications, though its executives left the door open as to whether its 4G network would be open as well, and if so, when.

Later in the week, VZW followed up that announcement with the stunning news that it had chosen LTE as its fourth-generation platform, instead of UMB which would have been more compatible with its existing CDMA network.

Verizon Wireless is co-owned by Verizon and European telecom giant Vodafone. Its executives indicated last week that how or whether it would proceed with open access for LTE would depend on its parents' wishes.

Today's upbeat assessment of open access by Verizon's Strigl could mean that VZW's 4G network will be designed with the open access option in mind, though he declined to give specific timelines. When asked directly whether VZW's choice of LTE and its open access move were related to one another, Strigl gave a solid affirmation that they were.

Strigl also continued to speak on VZW's behalf with respect to its involvement in Verizon's FiOS program. The stars appear to be shining brightly for FiOS this week, announcing this morning it will add high-def, on-demand programming to the FiOS lineup. And New Yorkers this morning heard the news on their radios that Verizon plans to give away free 19-inch HDTVs to new FiOS subscribers.

Strigl called the new FiOS promotion this morning "an idea that we stole from the cable guys," though he declined to say which ones specifically. It's too early to tell whether the promotion is successful, he added, although thus far, FiOS has seen its biggest success thus far in suburban markets where Verizon is permitted to offer TV along with voice, Internet, and wireless service. That's not everywhere yet, he pointed out, and that's certainly not Manhattan where fiberoptic rollout is slower and more costly.

Taking full advantage of Comcast's concession, which it verified at the UBS conference this morning, that it would not be adding wireless phone service to its "triple play" tiers, Strigl said that "unlike the cable industry," Verizon intends to pursue what it calls "quad-play" services at every opportunity. "The question isn't if we'll go into all regions," he said, "but when."