Verizon to begin selling iPads Oct. 28th, symbolically ending AT&T exclusivity

AT&T's announcement that it would begin selling iPads on Oct. 28th is now old news. Verizon has announced that on the same day, Oct. 28th, it too would begin selling the iPad in its stores, as well.

The significance of that announcement cannot be lost on those waiting for a Verizon iPhone. In a sense, we've seen AT&T exclusivity on iDevices shattered.

However, don't think that the 3G-enabled iPads are CDMA iPads. They are not. To get around that the difficulty that 3G iPads have been designed to use GSM connectivity without a hardware redesign, Verizon and Apple are enabling 3G connectivity selling iPads bundled with Verizon's MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot, for the same price as the standard 3G iPad.

Those iPads will be, therefore, $629, $729, $829 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively. The great thing about the deal is that the MiFi device will allow you to connect up to five wi-fi enabled devices at once, not just the iPad. The bad thing is that you have to carry extra hardware.

In terms of the data plan, Verizon will also introduce a special monthly access plan for iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for $20 a month, and the standard 5GB plan for $60 a month. Meanwhile, AT&T offers up to 2GB of data for just $25 per month.

Verizon will also sell the iPad sans MiFi, meaning wi-fi only. The company did not announcing pricing, but one would assuming it's indentical to all other sellers of the iPad, meaning $499, $599, and $699 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively.

Update: A few changes to the information on the data plans. In addition to the $20 plan, they will offer a 3GB plan for $35 and a 5GB plan for $50. Overage charges will be $20 extra for each extra GB for the $20 plan, and $10 extra for each additional 1GB for both the $35 and $50 plan.

It should be noted that these data plan prices apply only to those buying a bundled MiFi with the iPad. You can't grandfather in a MiFi you already own if you buy an iPad from Verizon separately.

Verizon iPhone rumors have reached a fever pitch. This new announcement can only serve to confirm to a 99.9 percent confidence level that Verizon will be carrying the iPhone in Q1 2011. What this will do to smartphone sales for the holiday season remains to be seen, but you might suddenly see a lot of buyers holding off on purchases.

Q1 2011 will be interesting for Apple, AT&T, Verizon, Android, and of course, Google.

Read the press release below.

VerizoniPad