Verizon to Deploy LTE 'As Close to All-At-Once As Possible'

Your comment is a classic oxymoron. You proved it in your first sentence. "Sprint has always been innovative but it did not matter".

Innovation does matter regardless of who institutes it. It initiates progression to something different or in this case, Another level up. If you don't like Sprint(obviously you don't, you choose to go to a different carrier.

I have been around cellphones half of my 50 years, and I can honestly say that I do not remember anything Verizon has done to implement an innovation on their own. They just wait to see what everyone else does and then go forward with no other form of innovation other than using their size to project a sense of being a revolutionary carrier.

On the note of the iphone: I do agree that the iphone would perform much better on Verizon than their GSM counterpart. But I feel by the looks of all the new devices right around the corner, The iphone will be heavily diluted in a mixed blend of high-end smartphones by the time Verizon scores the Apple product.