"Open Access" on Verizon: Much Ado About Nothing?

Thanks to Silicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer for saying what first leapt to my mind when I read the news this morning (rubbing the Nyquil out of my eyes and popping Advil like Tic Tacs) that Verizon Wireless was opening its cellular network for "any device" (well, any device that meets Verizon's minimum specifications for what it will allow on its network). To quote Frommer, who puts it quite simply: "Good luck finding a non-Verizon phone that will work on Verizon's network."

The problem is that Verizon and Sprint are CDMA networks, incompatible with GSM, which Cingular, T-Mobile, and most other countries in the world rely on. If you're looking for a cool new unlocked phone to buy, there's virtually no chance it will be a CDMA phone. All the hip phones out of Europe and Asia (sans Japan, which has its own network) use GSM and its related technologies. People simply don't make CDMA phones unless they've already got a deal in the works with Verizon or Sprint; there's just no demand for them in the global marketplace.

Don't believe me? Search eBay, the de facto marketplace for unlocked phones, for "unlocked CDMA." As I write this there are a whopping 44 phones for sale, mostly old and semi-disposable handsets (see the hot 2004 model pictured!) and stuff you can get directly from Verizon already for about $30 with a contract. By comparison, there are 5,396 "unlocked GSM" phones available... all of which you can simply pop your Cingular or T-Mobile GSM card into and be up and running immediately. Talk of iPhones and the latest Nokias running on Verizon is really a pipe dream for the foreseeable future.

Please don't get me wrong: I'm ecstatic that Verizon is opening its network to make it easier to use other hardware with its cellular plans (and it's nice that it'll let you install software on your phone now, too), but I'm just baffled where this hardware is going to come from. Old Sprint customers? Vintage electronics collectors? Frankly, I'd be more impressed if Verizon and others ended long-term contract requirements, termination fees, and other cellular plan headaches.

Now who really wants to talk about open access?