Verizon, Vodafone Downplay Spat Rumors

(Telephony) Both Verizon and Vodafone are calling the alleged rift between the two companies stemming from Verizon’s decision to go with CDMA2000 technology nothing more than speculation.

In a joint statement, both companies attempted to squelch the rumors that had been circulating over the past few days, but never directly denied the report.

“Wireless is a foundation of Verizon Communications’ long-term strategy and brand development,” said Ivan Seidenberg, president and co-CEO. “We have an excellent working relationship with Vodafone and we look forward to continuing to build Verizon Wireless with them.”

Vodafone Group CEO Chris Gent’s comment had a similarly broad message. “We continue to work extremely well with our partners operating and developing Verizon Wireless. … The choice of any future technology will be made in the interest of both parties and with full awareness of the evolving technology trends in our industry.”

It previously was reported that Vodafone insisted Verizon had not yet decided on the standard it would use for its U.S.-based network, despite already having purchased hardware from Lucent Technologies Inc. based on the CDMA2000 standard.

Moreover, recent speculation suggested that a decision by Verizon to go with CDMA2000 would create a clear rift between the two companies because it would render the U.S. network incompatible with European 3G networks.

However, an adoption of CDMA2000 could mean that Vodafone would have to develop a dual-mode handset to ensure that travelers between Europe and the United States can use the same phone.

“Eventually … most of this will be solved on the handset side,” said Larry Swasey, vice president of communications research at Allied Business Intelligence. “Early on, when developing markets and handsets, the cost of doing dual-mode may be expensive. But as chip technology marches forward there will be an impetus to match up 1XRTT and WCDMA.”