Verizon geared up to meet iPhone challenge

Verizon's success with Android phones has prepared it for the onslaught of new subscribers that Apple's iPhone would bring.

According to The Wall Street Journal, with the launch of the Motorola Droid last fall, Verizon has quickly emerged as the premiere US carrier for high-end Android smartphones, and with the experience it has gained the company is now knows well how to deal with data hungry smartphone users.

Validas, a company that helps users manage their monthly phone bills says Android users consume more data than typical iPhone users. On an average the company says Android users consume around 485 MB of data monthly while iPhone users use about 344 megabytes per month.

Verizon had an Android subscriber base of about 9 million at the end of September, according to analysts, while at the same time AT&T's iPhone customers numbered 16.5 million.

According to sources approached by The Wall Street Journal, Verizon is testing and adding capacity to its network and is in talks with Apple to help prepare for the arrival of the iPhone. According to the paper Verizon was gearing up to offer the iPhone in 2011.

While Verizon's Android customers are around the just more than half of AT&T's iPhone customers, AT&T struggles to support the user base it started acquiring when the iPhone was launched in 2007.