Now that the iPhone has finally come to Verizon, one has to wonder what will happen to its heavy support for the Android operating system.  Will they continue to plug ahead with it, or will they toss it to the side like an old girlfriend because a newer, some would say sexier, girl has given them a wink and a nod?

Is Android going to end up the jilted girlfriend of Verizon?

Verizon definitely deserves some of the credit for the growing popularity of the Android operating system (OS) due to its extremely popular Motorola Milestone, better known as “Droid”, that was released in Nov. 2009.  It was one of the hottest Christmas gifts that year, and its flashy advertising campaign with that robotic voice that would say “DROID” really got people to start paying attention to the system.

The problem is, part of the reason Verizon threw so much of its weight behind Android was because it couldn’t get its hands on Apple’s iPhone.  If they couldn’t have the top selling phone, they would help another one gain traction, and Android devices now hold a larger marketshare than the iPhone.

With the iPhone now on Verizon, will they turn the back on the system they helped to build?  The one that made them a competitor when they couldn’t get the iPhone?

I think they will continue to support it, and the main reason is because Android devices quickly rushed in to fill the 4G LTE handset issue.  Verizon has built a very speedy network, and without phones to support it, building it would have been for naught.  Yes, they had mobile broadband modems, but those would never cover the costs of building the network, only handsets will do that, and they have at least four Android LTE-capable handsets coming (Droid Bionic, HTC Thunderbolt, LG Revolution and Samsung SCH-i510).  Verizon wouldn’t have ordered these if they didn’t plan to continue to support Android.

Lets add in the fact that there simply are people who have no interest in the iPhone.  Is Verizon going to lose subscribers because they no longer offer anything other than the iPhone?  Of course not.  Verizon did not get to be the biggest carrier in the United States with 93 million subscribers by being stupid.  They want to not only keep those people, but they want to add more, and that’s what the iPhone will do.

Android isn’t going anywhere when it comes to Verizon, it’s just getting a new neighbor.