In a surprisingly blunt interview with CNET, Verizon CTO Tony Melone made it clear that the only operating system his company cares about are Apple, Android and RIM. Maybe even webOS. But Windows Phone 7? Not for him:
“I do want a strong third OS out there,” Melone said. “It gives the carriers more flexibility and balances the interests of all the parties. But I still have doubts whether Microsoft will get the traction they are hoping for with Windows Phone 7… I don’t think Verizon needs the Nokia and Microsoft relationship,” he said. “Right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM. ”
Sure, it’s easy to say that now, since WP7 doesn’t currently support Verizon’s CDMA network. But it’s going to soon. And however much Melone wants to discount the potential of a Noka-Microsoft partnership, those are two highly motivated companies with extremely broad reach.
Why so antagonistic? Who knows! But I suspect that if you want to buy a Windows Phone 7 handset from Verizon sometime later this year, they’ll be happy to sell you one. [CNET]