Gizmos

AT&T Preps for iPhone Battle with Verizon

Verizon subsidies to cost $5.2B.

Finally: On Tuesday, Verizon will announce their plans to carry the iPhone. The announcement, at a private event in New York City, marks the end of AT&T’s three-year hold on the device, but Verizon may be losing money this year with the new addition. Experts and analysts say that while Verizon will sell anywhere from nine to 13 million new iPhones this year, it will also cut into their profits by subsidizing customer purchases by around $400 apiece. This subsidy will cost around $5.2 billion for Verizon, currently the largest mobile network in the U.S. Meanwhile AT&T plans to amp up their commercials, highlighting the benefits of their network on the iPhone, according to a source close to the matter. Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T's wireless business, said they are ready for the competition, "The short- and long-term viability of AT&T will be good whether we have exclusivity or not. We are much bigger than this."