Windows Phone Thoughts: Verizon Explains New Open Device Policy

"Customers will be allowed to connect to our network any device that meets minimal technical standards," said Verizon vice president of open development Tony Lewis. Those standards, as explained in surprisingly precise technical detail at the conference, aren't too obnoxious. Geeks seeking to activate non-Verizon phones on Verizon's network, though, will need to remember two things. First, those phones have to be CDMA - no European Nokia phones and no iPhones, which are all GSM. (GSM and CDMA are physically incompatible technologies, like AM and FM radio.) Second, the phones have to have Enhanced 911 connectivity to make emergency calls in the U.S. That means no high-end Korean or many foreign CDMA phones, which forgo the U.S emergency standard."

Well, I'm not sure this will be as open as current GSM systems are where you only have to have a phone that is on the right frequency, and most geek devices are quad-band anyway, and it has to be unlocked. Just pop in your SIM and you are good to go. It seems with Verizon it will require a few more steps. The Enhanced 911 requirement seems to me to be a bit heavy handed and will block a lot of non-US destined phones. Still, for a CDMA provider, it is better than the past. Do you have a non-Verizon CDMA device you've been itching to get connected in the US?