As Microsoft preps and primps for the rollout of Windows Phone 7, it's beginning to look as if the launch gala may not be well attended by U.S. wireless operators.
That's because, among the big U.S. operators, only AT&T and T-Mobile will be shipping phones that use Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) new mobile phone software when it's released.
Microsoft officials said they opted to partner with AT&T (the No. 2 U.S. carrier) and Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile (in fourth place domestically) only instead of also striking deals with Verizon Wireless and Sprint (in first and third places, respectively) because they needed to make a choice: To meet its promised delivery in time for 2010 holiday sales, Microsoft had to choose only one of two major wireless network technologies to focus on.
That turned out to be Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), which is the technology in use by T-Mobile and AT&T (NYSE: T).
However, Microsoft said its partners will deliver handsets that support the other main network technology -- Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) -- which is used by Verizon and Sprint, next year.
"In developing WP7, we are placing high-quality customer experiences above all else," a Microsoft spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an email. "In keeping with this goal, Microsoft chose to focus on delivering a great GSM version to the world first, and then a great CDMA version in the first half of 2011." Windows Phone 7 is rumored to arrive on Oct. 11. Company spokespersons won't confirm the date, or whether, as the rumors say, the launch gala will held at a site in New York and be broadcast globally. So far, Microsoft has only announced that Windows Phone 7 had been "released to manufacturing," or RTM, in early September.
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