Verizon Wireless

More talk of smartphones diving into featurephone ground

...and Google is well positioned to get this un-tapped market.

The talk this week will be of AT&T (T) iPhone users moving over to Verizon (VZ), but the bigger trend for 2011 will be the migration of featurephone users to inexpensive smartphones with cheap, limited data plans.  Along with inexpensive phones, data plans need to drop.

The WSJ caught this trend at CES:

During the holidays, Verizon Wireless offered a cheaper smartphone data MORE

Droid cuts Blackberry's Verizon share in half

Android sales continue to erode RIM's once-dominant position on the biggest U.S. carrier. And with the lackluster reception of Blackberry 6 and an uncertain migration to their new QNX OS, 2011 isn't looking like a banner year for RIM.

It must have been interesting to be in Verizon Wireless's C-Suite during the first month of Android sales last year.  Up until that point, Blackberry (RIMM) all but owned Verizon's smartphone MORE

Lowell McAdam: Seidenberg's 'air' apparent

By Sarah Ellison, contributor

While Ivan Seidenberg got his start as a cable splicer's assistant, working hands on with the copper wires and fiber-optic lines that were once the phone company's core business, his handpicked successor, Lowell McAdam, 56, has spent the bulk of his career in the wireless industry -- Verizon's new core. Last year wireless accounted for 58% of Verizon's annual revenue, up from 50% in 2008.

McAdam, who became MORE

Verizon's iPad data plan: One plan to rule them all?

Depending on which of the new plans you choose, you could end up saving a few bucks, spending roughly the same, or paying through the nose.

Back in June, two months after the iPad launched in 3G and Wi-Fi-only flavors, Fortune recommended that potential buyers skip the 3G option, buy a Wi-Fi version and pair it with a MiFi router instead.

It seems Verizon (VZ) got the hint. On October 28, the MORE

Today in Tech: News around the Web

A round-up of the companies, deals, and trends that made headlines.

Every day, the Fortune staff spends hours poring over tech stories, posts, and reviews from all over the Web to keep tabs on the companies that matter. We've assembled the day's most newsworthy bits below.

Why T-Mobile is Sprint's best hope

With Clearwire experiencing growing pains, Sprint's best option for 4G expansion might be turning to a rival competitor for cash.

Sometimes the best allies are also the unlikeliest.

This might be the case if T-Mobile invests in Clearwire (CLWR), which is majority-owned by Sprint (S). Currently, Clearwire offers fourth-generation (4G) wireless network coverage to more than 41 million people throughout the U.S., but it plans to expand further to cover 120 MORE

Why Google isn't playing to win the wireless auction

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Google's official declaration today that it will submit a solo bid for the upcoming wireless spectrum auction has prompted speculation that the Internet giant is planning to launch its own mobile network. After all, the whole point of bidding on the wireless airwaves is to run a broadband network, right?

Not if you're Google.

Google may play the part of a serious bidder, but the company isn't necessarily looking to MORE

Verizon switch is a win for Google

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Verizon Wireless' move Tuesday to open its mobile network to any and all cell phones marks a victory in Google's campaign to knock down the carriers' wireless walls.

Along with AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) had declined to join Google's Open Handset Alliance to develop a mobile platform called Android that would work on all phones and networks. Verizon still hasn't signed up, but in practical terms it's taken MORE