mocoNews - Sprint, Verizon Relent And Start Offering Wi-Fi In Most Smartphones

Sprint (NYSE: S) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) have changed their mind and in what is becoming a pretty common move will start allowing Wi-Fi as a common feature in its smartphone line-up. The two U.S. CDMA carriers held off for years, while both AT&T (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile USA encouraged their users to roam on to large Wi-Fi networks they own and operate.

Initially, Wi-Fi was looked at as a potential threat to the carrier, which wanted users to pay for data going over their own network. But now, as data plans have begun more prevalent, and users want to conduct heavy-bandwidth applications, Wi-Fi is considered more of a savior than a threat. It's not clear if that's what has taken Sprint and Verizon so long to cozy up to Wi-Fi. After all, CDMA handsets can be significantly more expensive compared to their GSM sisters, so it may just have come down to cost.

FierceWireless reports that Sprint Nextel has decided to require its smartphone suppliers to add WiFi into their devices for the carrier. Next year, it will release an updated version of the BlackBerry Tour that will include Wi-Fi, and of course the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre already has it. "Sprint is embracing Wi-Fi in all its major devices going forward," said Jeff Clemow, the carrier's director of business product marketing.

Separately, Boy Genius reports that Verizon Wireless has came to the same conclusion. In fact, after all BlackBerry's after the Tour will sport Wi-Fi, including Storm 2 and the Aries. In addition, Verizon is including Wi-Fi in requirement specifications sent to handset makers with regards to future smartphones.