• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, February 8, 2011

With the Verizon iPhone poised to hit stores on Thursday, reports have emerged that the device will have a substantially redesigned antenna from that of the original version released on AT&T's network last summer. Remember "Antennagate?"

In hindsight, the controversy over the external, wrap-around antenna on the iPhone 4 seems like just a blip on the way to the phone selling nearly 40 million iPhones (of all models) in its 2010 fiscal year. That includes 16.2 million sold in the most recent quarter alone.

But at the time, complaints about poor reception when the iPhone was held a certain way turned into a full-blown headache for Apple, requiring a rare press conference handled by CEO Steve Jobs himself and the giveaway of special cases to quell the uproar. Apple didn't help matters much by initially denying anything was at all wrong with the new antenna design.

The iPhone 4's antenna woes quickly became something of a national joke, with the likes of David Letterman making sport of the situation and images of Apple's signature device wrapped in duct tape popping around the Web.

Motorola itself took advantage of the ruckus by taking out a full-page ad in The New York Times to promote the Droid X on Verizon's network with the tag line "No Jacket Required." It also boasted of a "double antenna design" that would allow users to hold the phone any way they like.

But once Apple started the free case program, the complaints and surrounding media circus disappeared. Whether Verizon will go out of its way to highlight the improved antenna in its version of the iPhone 4 seems unlikely. After all, that approach didn't have much impact on sales the first time around. Now that it has the iPhone, Verizon may want to hold back on attacking the Apple device itself.

With its own ad showing both the iPhone 4 performing all the same tasks with both AT&T or Verizon, Apple is sending the message that you get the same value and full functionality with either carrier.

Since ending its exclusive deal with AT&T, Apple obviously wants to have as many happy customers as possible across both networks. The next-generation iPhone coming this summer will likely feature a revamped antenna that won't require a bumper to make or receive calls.

So any mileage Verizon could get from trying to revive the antenna issue on the AT&T iPhone would be short-lived anyway. The carrier has other advantages it can tout for the iPhone 4, like being able to use the phone as a personal hotspot and unlimited data use. Antennagate is last year's news.