It is being widely reported that US operator Verizon Wireless will announce the long-awaited launch of the iPhone on its network tomorrow, bringing to an end rival AT&T’s exclusive deal to offer the device which has been in place since June 2007. According to sources, Verizon Wireless will use a press conference in New York tomorrow to unveil a version of the iPhone compatible with the operator’s CDMA network with an eye to begin selling the device by the end of the month. The long rumoured CDMA iPhone will be the first version of the iconic device not to use GSM/WCDMA/HSPA and could also be sold by CDMA operators in China and India. Earlier reports suggest that Apple has been manufacturing the new version of iPhone since late last year with a view to a January 2011 launch.

In the US, however, the move is tipped to intensify the battle between Verizon Wireless and AT&T. UBS AG analyst John Hodulik told Bloomberg that Verizon could sell 13 million iPhones this year. AT&T sold 11.1 million iPhones in the first nine months of 2010, putting it on track to sell more than 14 million for the year. Apple gets about US$400 per phone, Hodulik estimates, which – if Verizon sells 13 million units – would net Apple an additional US$5.2 billion in sales. The US is one of the few markets where the iPhone is still tied to a single operator and commentators believe that Apple’s move to offer it via others could be a defensive move to allow the iPhone to better compete with the raft of Android-based devices – of which Verizon is a major distributor. “[The iPhone]  is going to be the dominant device at Verizon as soon as it’s launched, and, I think, cannibalise the other devices they sell,” said Hodulik.