Why is there a Verizon cell site at 1 Infinity Loop?

While most of the tech blogosphere is getting all wet over the idea of getting a rubber bumper or case for free so that they can actually use the phone that they paid anywhere from a couple hundred bucks to $500+ for (depending on contract or not) there is one thing in the Jobs we love our customers speech that has escaped notice.

I was watching the Leo Laporte TWiT Live show where Leo was doing his best to cover the Apple event when he caught the fact that Apple has a Verizon cell site at their campus. My reaction was much like his – Huh?, a Verizon cell site? What would Apple be doing with a Verizon cell site on their campus given those things aren’t exactly cheap.

I was waiting until a non-Quicktime version of the event made it to the web but Mark Gurman over at 9 to 5 Mac posted the relevant part of Jobs’ speech to the masses, which you can see above. As Mark notes – Apple does have an AT&T cell site but this is the first we have gotten actual confirmation (from the horse’s mouth so to speak) that Apple is very likely testing Verizon versions of the iPhone.

Now they have Verizon cell sites and this presumably means they are testing Verizon devices as well. There have been rumors of Apple testing Verizon models for the last few years, but this statement from Jobs is very promising.

And yet all the big boys are still yammering on about how great it is that Apple is going to be giving everyone free cases. Love the priorities of news reporting eh.