Verizon LTE iPhone Coming in 2011? [Verizon Rumored to Launch Five LTE Devices in the Following 12 Months; Is the iPhone One of Them?]

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June 7 might be the day when the first CDMA iPhone gets officially mentioned by Apple. We’re definitely interested to see when this Verizon iPhone is coming out since we’ve seen various rumors reporting various dates for the future launch of the Verizon LTE and/or CDMA iPhone.

Reuters seems to know more about Verizon’s LTE future. It looks like Big Red wants to launch a bunch of LTE handsets by May 2011. According to Verizon’s CEO, Verizon is interested in offering subscribers various tablet computers and three to five LTE phones.

Manufacturers like Motorola, Samsung and LG could be making Android tablets for Big Red soon which could or could not be upgradeable to LTE later on. When it comes to 4G smartphones, we’re looking at Motorola, HTC, LG and RIM as manufacturers. And if indeed there are going to be five LTE Verizon handsets next year, can we assume the fifth company, conveniently left out of this speech, is Apple?

The CEO commented on the future of LTE:

I’d say all the major manufacturers we’re talking to today are making the transition to LTE

That must mean Apple is also moving towards LTE since that’s definitely the future of mobile telecommunications.

But talking about LTE devices is really futile without a strong LTE network for them to actually be able to function properly. Verizon is apparently working hard on that LTE network as it plans to offer 25 to 30 markets, or up to 100 million customers with LTE by the end of this year.

Therefore an actual LTE iPhone could in theory hit stores by the end of the year. After all, Sprint is also launching the EVO 4G without having completely finished deploying WiMAX technology in all its markets.

While McAdam says that Verizon is 18 to 24 months ahead on anybody else in LTE, the question is, has Apple also jumped on board the LTE ship yet? If indeed an LTE iPhone would be somehow launched this year, although that seems very unlikely right now, then the smartphone will not only be fourth generation device but also an actual 4G-enabled smartphone that would sell like hot cakes.

In case Verizon doesn’t get the phone this year then maybe WWDC 2011 is going to be the place where the CDMA/LTE iPhone finally gets unveiled.

And while we’re at it probably AT&T should hurry with LTE deployment instead on focusing on its HSPA+ network.