Wireless Phone Services Get An Upgrade As Verizon Opens Network To Phones From Other Companies!!!

Verizon Wireless plans to open its network to devices and software from any company, becoming the first U.S. mobile-phone service provider to promote unrestricted access. Device makers can use instructions Verizon plans to publish early next year to create and sell phones, gaming devices, household appliances and other gadgets that will work on the nationwide network. Clients also can keep buying phones directly from the company, the second-biggest U.S. wireless carrier.

Expanding the variety of services may help Verizon win customers as wireless subscribers growth slows in the U.S., where about 80 percent of the population has a mobile phone. Verizon's decision may force rivals AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. to follow suit, Gartner Inc. analyst Tole Hart said:

"This is a pretty big step," said Philadelphia-based Hart. "There will be more applications out there that people want to use and more use use of the wireless Internet."

The decision also aligns Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless with former opponent Google Inc., which had urged the government to create rules forcing carriers to open their networks ahead of an airwave auction. Verizon had sued the Federal Communications Commissioner over those rules, and dropped the legal action last month.

Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc jointly own Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications rose 23 cents to $41.46 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has gained 11 percent this year.