Rumors of a dual-network iPhone gained fuel on Wednesday with an analyst report from Northeast Securities claiming to know of the device. Pointing to checks within the parts chain, the analyst group expects an iPhone with both CDMA and WCDMA support to be ready by the summer of 2010. The change would let the phone work on Sprint, Verizon, and a handful of other international networks while still having the WCDMA foundations needed for UMTS and HSPA 3G on AT&T and most worldwide cell providers.

No mention is made of the hybrid Qualcomm chipset that had surfaced in a previous OTR Global analysis. In that report, a single chip would support the competing standards and let Apple sell just one core iPhone platform across all its existing service areas. It hasn’t been confirmed, but the chip would need to support both EVDO and HSPA to provide full 3G service on both network types.




Most rumors have put the iPhone on Verizon this year either with a CDMA-aware version or one for the US provider’s soon-to-start 4G service, which will adopt the much more universal LTE format. Neither Apple nor AT&T has said when their exclusivity deal for the US will end, but many believe it was extended to summer 2010 after Apple switched to a subsidized pricing model for the iPhone in 2008.