Windows Phone 7 devices are on their way to Verizon, with the HTC Trophy waiting on sidelines for the carrier to call it in to action. What we’re wondering now, is if Verizon will go out of its way to promote the phone and actively seek to draw the attention WP7 fans, or let it stagnate and die. We’re left with this quandary after hearing Verizon CTO Tony Melone question the potential of WP7, and saying that the network is quite happy with only Apple, Android, and BlackBerry smartphones.
Melone talked both about WP7 in general, as well as the recent Nokia news. He said that Verizon would like very much for its customers to have another major OS to consider when making their smartphone purchases, but he “doubts whether Microsoft will get the traction they are hoping for with Windows Phone 7.”
Specifically discussing Nokia and its decision to go into the WP7 business, Melone was skeptical that Verizon would be interested in any products it came up with. While not dismissing the company’s work outright, he said that its products “would have to be really good” for Verizon to take note.
While it’s a bit unclear just how much of this disinterest is directed at WP7 as a whole, and how much at the prospect of Nokia WP7 phones, Melone was quite clear when saying “right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM.”
Granted, Melone isn’t the sole voice driving Verizon’s strategy, but these revelations don’t exactly paint a sunny picture for the future of WP7 on the company’s network. This is all the more confusing considering Nokia’s enthusiasm towards working with Verizon on a CDMA WP7 phone. It sounds like Verizon needs to develop a cohesive strategy towards WP7 and make some decisions about how the platform will fit in with the carrier’s other offerings.
