Verizon CEO: "We obviously would be interested" in the iPhone

Verizon hasn't been pulling many punches with iPhone the last week or so, what with the "iDon't" TV ads and all the hype surrounding the upcoming Motorola Droid (or Droids, as the case may be). But if you thought that meant Verizon had written off the idea of putting the iPhone on its network, think again.

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are both quoting Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who said today that the carrier—which is poised to unveil the Android-powered Motorola Droid on Wednesday—"obviously would be interested at any point in the future that [Apple] would be interested in having us as a partner."

Indeed, when it comes to Verizon getting the iPhone, "this is a decision that is exclusively in Apple's court," Seidenberg said during Monday's quarterly earnings call (according to the Times).

The Verizon boss even offered some praise for Apple, even as Verizon Wireless continues to run ads that mock the iPhone with taunts such as "iDon't take pictures in the dark" and "i'Dont have a removable battery."

"What they have done has been very successful, so we have to sit back and give them credit for that," Seidenberg says in the Journal story.

Many (including me) had taken Verizon's recent (and aggressive) ad campaign against the iPhone as evidence that the carrier had decided to go all-in with Android, a move that would dash any hopes of the iPhone ever ending up in Verizon's lineup.

But Seidenberg's conciliatory comments are striking, coming as they do just a couple of days before Verizon is expected to unleash yet another would-be iPhone killer—the Android-powered Motorola Droid—upon the world.

The comments also come a few days after AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega gingerly said that AT&T's "great portfolio" of phones "will continue after the iPhone is no longer exclusive to us." Then again, as Engadget Mobile notes, de la Vega didn't exactly say when AT&T's exclusive deal with Apple will end. (Terms of the deal have never been made public, although rumor has it that it'll expire by June 2010.)

Still, who knows ... maybe Seidenberg is thinking bigger—literally bigger, as in the long-rumored wireless Mac tablet. Or perhaps smaller, as in an iPhone Mini.

That said, we shouldn't get too excited by Seidenberg's statements just yet. Shy of movement on Cupertino's part, Seidenberg's talk is just that: talk.

And let's not forget that until Verizon starts rolling out its next-generation LTE network (in the late 2010-2011 timeframe), a Verizon iPhone would entail building a new version based on CDMA technology (the current iPhone is GSM-based, good for AT&T and many other worldwide carriers), and it's not clear that Apple would want to go to all that trouble for a network that'll be outdated in a couple of years.

Anyway, what do you think: Ready for the iPhone to arrive on Verizon Wireless—or any other carrier besides AT&T, for that matter? Or how about the rumored iTablet running on Verizon's network?

Related:
Droid or Not, Verizon Still Wants the iPhone [NYT]
A Verizon iPhone Is ‘Exclusively in Apple’s Court,’ Verizon Says [WSJ]