http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/ Engadget Mobile Comments for Verizon carries on with open development initiative, publishes LTE specs http://mobile.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://mobile.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/
LTE is an open spec, like UMTS and GSM before it. Even if an operator wants to, there's little they can do to ban third party, standards compliant, devices from operating on their networks.

Verizon's announcement was originally overstated in the first place, but there was a slightly glimmer of positivity in that it looked, for a time, as if Verizon was going to be one of the few IS-95/IS-2000 ("CDMA") operators prepared to open up their network. But the fact they've only announced specs for the one standard that's already open and already well documented makes it even more disappointing.

Come on Verizon, do the right thing: open up your existing network. Be the first US operator with an open IS-95/2000 network. Make R-UIMs available to any customer who wants one, and let anyone willing to make devices compatible with the IS-95/2000 standards sell their stuff to your customers without you needing to get involved.

Until then, stop promoting the notion that you've opened up your network, because you clearly haven't, and you clearly have no intention of opening up the network you have today. Saying you're going to build a network tomorrow based on open standards is not the same thing.
]]>Apr 27th 2009 7:40AMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/Apr 27th 2009 8:47AMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/
Also, in the scheme of things does it really matter? How many people are buying handsets without the contract subsidies anyway? I am looking forward to being able to take a nice phone with me from verizon to ATT or vice versa but is it that big a deal? ]]>Apr 27th 2009 10:06AMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/Apr 27th 2009 10:33AMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/

PWN3D!]]>Apr 27th 2009 4:37PMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/
How easy was that? Just have to add the ESN/MEID to the network database or something? Any software flashing required?]]>Apr 27th 2009 5:58PMhttp://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/http://mobile.engadget.com/2009/04/27/verizon-carries-on-with-open-development-initiative-publishes-l/
It depends on certain phones. For example, a Sprint branded or Alltel RAZR would be no problem 9 times out of 10, since VZW also carries the RAZR usually the ESNs of those models get activated by VZW without a problem. But like a Sprint branded Sanyo phone would likely not work at all, since VZW never carried Sanyo phones, the ESNs wouldn't register at all with VZW.]]>Apr 27th 2009 6:40PM