The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon Communications, parent of US operator Verizon Wireless, had stated its support for Microsoft’s efforts in the mobile space, as a way to tackle the smartphone dominance of Apple and Google.

According to the paper, Fran Shammo, CFO of the parent group, said in a call that: “It is important that there is a third ecosystem that's brought into the mix here, and we are fully supportive of Microsoft.”

Verizon Wireless was a heavy supporter of Google’s Android platform in its early days, driven by the fact that no version of Apple’s iPhone was available that supported its CDMA network. Shammo has now said that “we’re looking to do the same thing with a third ecosystem.”

So far, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has yet to gain significant traction, despite the availability of handsets from vendors including HTC, LG Electronics, Nokia and Samsung. Verizon Wireless has one Microsoft-powered smartphone in its portfolio, HTC’s Trophy.

While Nokia is currently targeting the US market with its Windows Phone devices, it has yet to announce a CDMA device for this market – it has announced a smartphone supporting this technology for China.

In an interview with Mobile World Live earlier this year, Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia, declined to be drawn on whether the company was planning to target the US CDMA operators.