Microsoft Prefers AT&T—Is Verizon Miffed?

Big Blue becomes the "premier partner" for Windows Phone 7 WC (Mobile World Congress)

BARCELONA – Windows Phone 7 will be launching with all four U.S. carriers and several international ones. But AT&T and Orange are "premier partners," according to Microsoft, which means they may get first crack at devices.

Wireless carriers have traditionally liked Microsoft phones. "They can add their own software and services," Microsoft vice president Andy Lees said at the launch. "Mobile operators also have tremendous value to add. They're not just dumb pipes."

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But AT&T and Orange are special. "We'll be particularly deeply engaged with two mobile operators, providing differentiation through unique software and services on their networks," Lees said. He didn't make it precisely clear what advantage AT&T would get over other carriers, but nobody I could find would confirm or deny that AT&T might get the Windows phones first.

For their part, AT&T seems thrilled. "At AT&T we can't wait to get Windows Phone in the market," said David Christopher, the chief marketing officer of AT&T's wireless business.

When I asked all four big U.S. wireless carriers for statements about Windows Phone 7, I got quotes from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile – but Verizon Wireless gave no comment. Are they miffed? As I said, they gave no comment. There's no comment in Verizon's or Microsoft's press releases about Windows Phone 7, either, and Verizon is a company that puts out a press release when they erect a new tower in Brooklyn Park, Minn. That sounds like miffed to me. (Watch their denial arrive a few minutes after this story publishes.)

So why is AT&T better than the rest? Ballmer specifically called out Microsoft's partnership with AT&T on U-Verse, which helps unravel the mystery. AT&T's U-Verse is a Microsoft-developed IPTV platform that AT&T is rolling out in their fiber-to-the-home areas. Verizon had a chance to go with Microsoft's solution for their FIOS TV, but they chose to demur.

I doubt anyone at Microsoft would ever admit this, but it sounds to me like Windows Phone 7 is a "gift with purchase" to AT&T for signing up for Microsoft's IPTV platform.