In Reversal, Verizon Embraces Google Mobile Initiative

Despite not being an original member of the Open Handset Alliance, the industry consortium brought together by Google last month in support of its new Android initiative, Verizon Wireless is now indicating that it is on board with Android, after all.

In an interview with BusinessWeek earlier this week, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said that his company is indeed planning to join up with Android, calling it “an enabler of what we do.” The surprise shift comes just days after Verizon announced it will become the first major U.S. wireless carrier to “open” its network,>/a> by allowing all mobile phones that meet Verizon’s standards to use the Verizon network.

With Verizon on board, the Open Handset Alliance now counts the second (Verizon), third (Sprint/Nextel), and fourth (T-Mobile)-largest wireless carriers in the U.S. Only the largest (the combined AT&T/Cingular) remains a holdout.