A CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon This Fall?

During a 2009 earnings call, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said it was up to Apple to bring the iPhone to the carrier’s network. “This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple’s court,” Seidenberg said. “Obviously we would be interested if they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner. And so we will leave it with them on that score.”

Well, it looks like Apple may have decided that such a partnership does make sense, because industry sources are telling the occasionally reliable DigiTimes that Pegatron Technology is manufacturing a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 suitable for the Verizon network (CDMA is short for code division multiple access).

Another Verizon iPhone rumor, I know. But in this case, it is lent credence by a March Wall Street Journal report that claimed essentially the same thing.

Still, that Apple (AAPL) has contracted Pegatron to build a CDMA iPhone does not necessarily mean the device is destined for Verizon (VZ). There are other carriers that use the CDMA standard: Sprint (S), China Telecom and SK Telecom (SKM), to name a few.

That said, Verizon is certainly an attractive candidate, as the carrier would immediately give Apple access to about 80 million new customers. And the concessions Apple has recently squeezed out of AT&T (T)–a “breakthrough” wireless deal for the iPad and a six-month extension on eligibility for iPhone 4 upgrade pricing–do suggest that the carrier is doing all it can to prolong its iPhone-exclusivity agreement and lock as many customers into new contracts as it can before it ends.

Anyway, at this point I’d be happy to see the iPhone added to Verizon’s lineup, if only to put an end to these seemingly endless rumors.