• The Street, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 4:07 PM

Are AT&T's coverage issues about to bite it in the butt? Rumor has it that Apple has chosen Verizon as the official carrier for its soon-to-launch "tablet" device. Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar, for one, is convinced based on the fact that the new device will feature a wireless chip made by Verizon partner Qualcomm. "This makes sense for Apple," Nielsen Wireless analyst Roger Entner tells The Street. "It behooves them to build a relationship with a company they haven't worked with yet."

Verizon's involvement could bode well for urban consumers who've complained endlessly about AT&T's spotty coverage, while having a telco partner means the price of the Verizon Tablet will be less than a Tablet purchased directly from Apple. Indeed, analysts estimate that Verizon will subsidize about $200 of the Tablet's price, so long as consumers agree to a two-year contract.

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