Open Questions for Verizon's Open Access

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At Verizon's conference, the company said it will let handset makers buy airtime at wholesale rates and resell the minutes to consumers under their own brands. Customers would be able to activate their devices by calling Verizon or going online, and they would not be required to sign service contracts with Verizon. "It's the beginning of a big revenue stream for us," says McAdam. An industry veteran well-versed in Europe's and Asia's more open wireless systems, McAdam sees the company's growth being spurred by a wide range of new options, such as a wireless device that can monitor a person's health and vital signs.

Getting Partners on Board

The challenge now is to convince retailers, hardware makers, and application developers to embrace Verizon's new system. Many of these potential partners say the event piqued their interest. But no major company has yet agreed to submit a handset for the certification process. To download the specifications for building an open-access handset, they'll need to register on a new Web site that Verizon launched in tandem with the conference. "We are ready to get this done," said Anthony Lewis, a vice-president appointed to lead the initiative. "We have done our homework. And we are ready to work with you."

Bob Kilinski, a senior vice-president for marketing and wireless at Radio Shack (RSH), says the retailer is interested in selling open-access devices intended for Verizon's network. Radio Shack has exclusive deals to sell wireless service from AT&T (T) and Sprint Nextel (S), but says there are no restrictions against selling devices offered by nonrivals. "We can sell whatever we want as long as it's not tied to a network," he says. "We feel these devices will really drive the stage of growth." If devices are certified quickly, Kilinksi says, the chain could start selling them later this summer.

Executives for Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which makes high-end smartphones for business users, say they're thinking of making a variety of open-access devices for the corporate market. "This model is best suited for enterprise services," says Chris Daniel, chief technologist for HP's communications, media, and entertainment business. And while Verizon did a "good job" explaining the process for certifying and testing a device, Daniel says he wants to hear more financial details. "They didn't provide the details behind the billing model," he says.

After the morning program ended, though, McAdam said the company was open to supporting a number of pricing models. "If you want our standard retail pricing you can get it, " he says. "We would consider custom pricing plans as well."

But some software developers, a key constituency that Verizon needs to attract, say they felt they were given short shrift at the event, which focused mostly on devices. "I was hoping to hear more [about applications] but I didn't," says Andrew Goldstein, a product manager for AG Interactive, a division of American Greetings (AM) that makes electronic greeting cards and other products. But Goldstein found a silver lining before he left the event: He was told by a Verizon executive that the company plans another conference in the near future that will focus on application makers.

For the open-access movement, Verizon's conference was an important first step in defining the future of the wireless world. Now the real work begins.

Ante is the computers department editor for BusinessWeek.