Windows Phone Thoughts: Verizon To... Open Their Network!?

"Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008. In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices."

I never thought I'd see this day. First the XV6800, and now this. 8O

To be perfectly honest, there's a bunch of gotchas: it has to be CDMA (makes sense), and it has to be tested (uh-oh). Moreover, there's still no SIM equivalent (even though CDMA SIM-like technologies, like R-UIM, exist). However, it is potentially the start of something big. HTC has been slowly establishing a US presence; could we see this as the first step in getting HTC to push CDMA devices out to the US market that much faster? Or no crippled Bluetooth? Or J2ME-supporting devices? The mind boggles.