For four years, residents of Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming were permanent wallflowers at the iPhone prom: AT&T doesn't serve those states, making them one giant dead zone. Today, Verizon starts selling the iPhone in the region, ending a long and painful wait for gadget lovers. “I remember vividly the first time I saw one at an airport,” says a South Dakota man. “My heart was bleeding because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get one.”
Stores are ready for a rush, with hot drinks on hand, the New York Times notes (though thanks to Android, the rush won’t be as big as it would have been years ago, says an expert). Verizon, for its part, had some biting words for AT&T: “We value our customers regardless of where they live,” said a rep. “We think North Dakota is just as important as New York.”
(More Verizon iPhone stories.)