AT&T, Verizon Wireless Kick Off New iPad Battle (T, AAPL, VZ, VOD, S, PCS)

Investing

Published: March 13, 2012 8:17 am

Wireless carriers AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone plc (NASDAQ: VOD), will launch the new iPad from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) on Friday, March 16th. Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was not included among the carriers of the new iPad, even though Sprint recently began carrying the iPhone.

Interestingly, the new iPad could be a major boost to Verizon Wireless, which offers 4G LTE coverage to more people in the US (200 million) than does AT&T (74 million). MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) claims 53 million 4G LTE customers, but it has no deal with Apple for either the iPhone or the iPad.

The new iPad seems built for Verizon Wireless, and the carrier will offer one thing AT&T won’t — mobile hotspot capability. A wider coverage area, a unique feature, yes, Verizon does appear to have gotten the better of this round.

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