Fortune has jumped onto the Verizon iPhone bandwagon, saying it has confirmed that the highly anticipated device will be released early next year.

Fortune doesn't say exactly how it got confirmation -- though, ahem, it did interview chief executive Ivan Seidenberg in the same article. "People familiar with its development say it is a fait accompli," writes Sarah Ellison.

Since its launch, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone has been the exclusive domain of carrier AT&T (T) in the U.S. And users have howled, bashing AT&T's network as slow and buggy, dropping calls and fouling data speeds.

The masses are practically begging Apple to open up the iPhone to another carrier, and Verizon (VZ) has been the most likely candidate for a long time. The rumors exploded when Verizon began offering connectivity for Apple's iPad tablet. Post continues after video:
Fortune reports that Apple did offer Verizon the exclusive on the iPhone in 2005 but that Verizon passed. The carrier thought Apple and chief executive Steve Jobs wanted too much control (big surprise there) over the device and too much commission out of the monthly service fees.

Verizon executives stayed in touch, however, and one -- Lowell McAdam -- called Jobs in December 2007, Fortune reports.

"We really ought to talk about how we do business together," McAdam reportedly said. "We weren't able to (reach an agreement) a couple of years before, but it's probably worth having another discussion to make sure we're not missing something."

Jobs reportedly responded: "Yeah, you're probably right. We have missed something."

AT&T pretty much confirmed a Verizon iPhone as well. "Verizon's network hasn't been battle-tested yet, so you don't know if they can handle the data load or not," a spokesman told Fortune.

Even though AT&T has been busy upping its game to compete with Verizon on data capacity, this much is clear: The launch of a Verizon iPhone will be one of the biggest tech events of the year.