Sources have continued to tell us about a wild rumor that Verizon might have a plan in place with Apple that could insure that no other carriers beyond AT&T get the iPhone in the foreseeable future. While the suggestion that Verizon is going to pay Apple more to make sure that Sprint and T-Mobile can’t offer the iPhone sounds a little crazy, the rumors do apparently have at least some traction.

When reaching out to our friends in red they admitted that they had heard that there had been at least talk of ensuring an exclusive of the CDMA model for the near future. The carefully worded comments seem to acknowledge the fact that AT&T would, of course, still be selling the iPhone as well as a competitor.

With all of the rumors about Verizon and the iPhone we continue to take a wait and see attitude, but we do believe that Verizon will actually and finally be offering the iPhone early next year. As for attempting to ensure that they don’t have Sprint and T-Mobile offering the iPhone, we do know that carriers like exclusives when there is money to be made; so the rumor may not be that far off base. We will know before too long.