Verizon Wireless was the first company offered exclusive access to the iPhone, but turned Apple away because of problems with the proposed business model. Cingular had no such reservations, and will be selling Steve Jobs' "revolution" later this year.

Verizon Communications president and chief operating officer Denny Strigl said: "The iPhone product is something we are happy we aren't the first to market with."

The problem seems to have been Apple's insistence in sharing the call revenue as well as controlling distribution channels and customer service.

Verizon vice president Jim Gerace (one of many veeps at the company) said: "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial."

We can only assume that Cingular did agree to such a deal, and guess to what heights that will drive the cost of the two year contract it is demanding from iPhone purchasers.

Cingular said it inked the deal with Apple more than two years ago, when the iPhone was no more than a couple of sketches and concepts; such was its belief in the Apple brand and abilities.

Meanwhile, Roger Wireless has signed up to be the Canadian iPhone distributor, which is lucky for Apple, as the company is the only GSM provider in Canada. ®

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