Verizon: continued Windows Phone support depends on LTE
updated 02:55 pm EST, Tue December 6, 2011
Verizon demands Microsoft build 4G WP phones
Verizon has gone on record to say it may drop Windows Phone handsets from its lineup if the products based on the OS don't soon offer 4G LTE network compatible devices, CMO Marni Walden told CNET in an interview. She stressed that LTE support was now a given and that Microsoft had to sign onboard. Thus far, Verizon offers only one Windows Phone handset, the HTC Trophy, which was a 3G version of a phone already several months old.
"We've communicated to Microsoft that LTE is critical to us," Walden said. "We need to see a timeline that makes sense if we want to continue to represent them."
The two companies are said to be working on this undertaking, but no specifics were discussed. The first LTE Windows Phone may be a Nokia Lumia variant for AT&T.
Verizon is committed to the 4G network, believing consumer appetite for data on the go will drive them to the fastest available mobile broadband network in the industry. The company recently bought wireless spectrum from cable providers for $3.6 billion in order to secure the future build-out of its 4G network.
Microsoft last mentioned 4G-capable phones back in May, but there's been no official news since then.
