X-PDA |Report: Steve Jobs Considered Building Apple Mobile Network

It should be no surprise that Steve Jobs liked to do things himself, hence Apple’s “walled garden” approach, but did the company almost become a wireless carrier?
Jobs reportedly “wanted to replace carriers,” according to wireless industry vet John Stanton, who spoke at a Law Seminars International event this week. As reported by NetworkWorld, Stanton said Jobs considered using unlicensed spectrum currently used by Wi-Fi networks in order to provide an Apple-based network for the iPhone.

“He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum. That was part of his vision,” Stanton said, according to NetworkWorld.

Jobs abandoned that idea in 2007, Stanton said, which is when Apple revealed the iPhone with AT&T as its exclusive U.S. partner. That continued until this year, when Apple added Verizon Wireless in February and Sprint and C Spire last month.

Verizon famously passed on the iPhone when Apple first proposed it, allowing AT&T to nab the lucrative deal. According to a 2007 USA Today report, Apple wanted a percentage of Verizon’s monthly cell phone fees as well as control over where and when the iPhone was sold.

Given the complexity of starting up, building out, and funding a wireless network, it was likely a smart move to let an existing company handle that, despite peoples’ protests over the initial selection of AT&T. Apple’s pre-iPhone mobile efforts, like MobileMe, weren’t exactly smooth sailing.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.