AT&T May Be ‘Big Winner’ With New IPhone in Battle With Verizon

AT&T, the second-largest US wireless operator, may gain an edge against its rivals with Apple’s latest iPhone announcements.

AT&T will get a version of the iPhone 4S, the model unveiled yesterday, that can handle data traffic at as much as twice the speed of the models Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. will offer, according to Apple. AT&T will also have an exclusive on the cheaper iPhone 3GS, which the company will give away with a two-year service contract. The result may be that AT&T will have an advantage in drawing new customers against Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest carrier, and Sprint, which will be offering the Apple device for the first time this fall, said James Dailey, chief investment officer at Team Financial Asset Management LLC. “Verizon is going to be marketing the exact same phone that AT&T and Sprint have, except it will be 3G with a limited data plan,” said Todd Rethemeier, an analyst with Hudson Square Research. “We think this puts Verizon at a significant marketing disadvantage.”