Verizon to open its network to all apps and devices in 2008

Rating: Is this the pivotal moment?

Verizon Wireless has said it will open its network to any device which meets a "minimum technical standard" by the end of next year. What it means by a minimum standard remains to be seen, but apparently will be revealed early in 2008.

Verizon’s president and CEO, Lowell McAdam, says this will be, "a transformation point in the 20-year history of mass market wireless devices."

Verizon is not a member of Google’s Android Open Handset Alliance – surely the timing of this announcement cannot be coincidence? Also, it maybe a way of heading the Federal Communications Commission of at the pass: instead of Google trying to bulldoze operators into opening up their networks if they want extra spectrum in the forthcoming auctions, it’s a much better plan if the operators agree to do it themselves – on their own terms and to their own timetable.

Just think how long they could spin out testing devices for that minimal technical standard if they really put their minds to it, for instance. Brand new, USD20m testing labs not withstanding.

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