Short Nerd Chief

Reports suggest that not only will Verizon Wireless embrace Android, but that Google’s mobile OS initiative played a role in the carrier’s decision to (kinda) open its network:

While Sprint Nextel (S) and T-Mobile (DT) were among the 34 charter members of this Google-led “Open Handset Alliance,” the two biggest U.S. carriers, AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless, were notably absent. “To get into that press release really didn’t do anything,” says McAdam. “We needed to understand the details of that operating system.”When Verizon executives and engineers examined Android’s software tool kit, however, they were impressed. “Clearly the Android system gives a lot of developers the opportunity to develop applications for a wide range of handsets,” says McAdam. Not only did the company decide to support Android, but McAdam says the new platform was a key influence in adopting open access. “Android really facilitated this move,”says McAdam.

As with all things Verizon, time will tell.  Does this mean Verizon will permit Android handsets on its network via the metered-use, semi-open plan to be introduced in 2008, or will Verizon offer Android to its walled-in masses?  If the former, it’s not even news.  If the latter, it may be good for customers, especially if the OS offers a compelling alternative to the iPhone.

Mashable likes the news and thinks it will encourage AT&T to join the party:

With Verizon’s move, AT&T becomes the only major US carrier that has not yet announced plans to support Android. With the variety of devices and applications the OS will eventually allow the other carriers to offer, it seems like AT&T will ultimately have its hand forced in joining the alliance. The longer they wait, the further behind they will be when devices and apps start making their way to the public next year.

As a GSM carrier, there’s little AT&T could do to stop Android, as using an Android phone on AT&T would be as simple as swapping a SIM.  It seems unlikely that AT&T would put much muscle behind Android, however.  The open source nature of the OS and ease of adding third-party applications goes against AT&T’s business model of removing features and crippling functionality to protect revenue streams like AT&T Music and TeleNav.  It would be too easy to use VOIP on Android, and the specs aren’t going to allow AT&T to remove GPS and Wi-Fi or cripple Java, like AT&T does in its other phones.  Eventually, market pressure will force AT&T to be more open, but not yet.

TechCrunch is far more skeptical:

Talk is cheap when you are trying to come across as all open on the eve of the biggest wireless spectrum auction in a decade. But if it means more support for Android and open networks in general, that is a good thing.

The BusinesWeek story is a big wet kiss that lovingly details Verizon’s seriousness about opening up its network. (The CEO keeps a list with him always of why openness is important to Verizon. Crumpled. In his pocket. The thing is practically near his heart!). Sorry, but the whole thing smells like a well-timed plant. We are still waiting for Verizon to officially join the Open Handset Alliance. And if it really were embracing openness, it wouldn’t treat open devices and open apps like second-class citizens, separate and at a safe distance from its 64 million subscribers.

That’s a lot closer to the truth.  Verizon isn’t really opening its network to new apps and devices.  The garden wall is still intact; they’ve just added a little plot of scraggly corn and pitiful tomatoes outside the wall., for which you can pay through the nose, but which allow the carrier to say “look, produce for the masses!”