Verizon to get iPhone?

Today is Steve Jobs’ birthday.

But if the chatter is true, it could be Verizon Wireless – and Sprint? – that gets to unwrap the sleek white box with an iPhone, or maybe millions of iPhones, inside.

This report suggests that the wizards of Cupertino finally found a way to cram a CDMA chip inside the iPhone, which now only works on GSM networks such as the one operated by AT&T. Both Verizon and Sprint use CDMA networks.

“While the deal is so secret that Apple will not even hint that it is happening, the outfit had been trying to find EVDO and CDMA engineers for months in their online Iphone job postings,” stated the report, which said an announcement related to Apple and Verizon is expected soon. “While EVDO could cover a wide range of 3G skills, it is more likely that Apple is specifically after the Verizon Wireless standard.”

CNET picked up on the same talk and then dismissed it, saying it appeared to be based on a stale blog post from last fall.

The update still left this scribe rooting for it to be true.

"I gave the iPhone a test run last month and ended up returning - not because of the phone but because the AT&T service was pretty bad where I am," ZDNet's Sam Diaz wrote. "Instead, I stayed with the more reliable Verizon Wireless."

Yes, it’s true. The iPhone has inspired a sense of childlike wonder in many a wireless consumer. The AT&T 3G network? Not quite as much.

Apple has had “huge problems” with the deal granting exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone to AT&T deal, according to ITExaminer.com.

“While the outfit is big, Apple needed to bring in Verizon and perhaps Sprint to get the sort of coverage that would give the same sort of coverage enjoyed by Blackberry, Symbian and Android users,” it stated.

AT&T leaders defend the quality of their network supporting the iPhone. They also say it is getting better all the time.

In this interview AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega talks about how his company is improving its 3G coverage all the time.

I just spoke with an AT&T Mobility vice president who said the company has expanded its third-generation wireless network coverage dramatically over the past year in the greater Kansas City area, and around the country.

“We have 3G coverage in more than 350 cities,” Nancy Garvey, an AT&T Mobility vice president based in St. Louis, told me. “When you are on the Internet and using our 3G network, it is very fast. AT&T has the fastest 3G network in the United States.”

Consumer perceptions about the quality of AT&T’s wireless network have not always been accurate, but they increasingly are changing as AT&T expands to more cities and enhances its coverage, Garvey said.

As for the new talk that AT&T would lose its exclusive access to the iPhone, Garvey said her company doesn’t talk publicly in that level of detail about its contract with Apple.

“About half of what you read on the blogs is true,” Garvey said. “You just don’t know which half.”

And, encouraged by a few fellow Twitter enthusiasts, I did ask about any AT&T plans to launch their version of the Palm Pre or an Android phone in the coming months.

AT&T definitely is looking at Android opportunities and will maintain its strong relationship with other phone makers such as Samsung, LG, Palm to provide consumers with an intriguing menu of possibilities beyond just the Apple iPhone, Garvey said.

“We have some exciting things we are looking at in the second half of the year,” she said.

Oh, by the way, Happy Birthday, Steve.