Sure, Verizon's been ripping into the iPhone with the iDon't series of ads for its new Android-run Droid smartphone, but that doesn't mean it is not open to bringing Apple's smartphone onboard. Here's what Verizon Wireless CEO Ivan Seidenberg had to say about the iPhone during his company's quarterly earnings call on Monday:

"We obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having us as a partner," Seidenberg said. "This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple's court. Our view is to broaden the base of choice for customers, and hopefully, along the way, Apple, as well as others, will decide to jump on the bandwagon."

Verizon was actually Apple's first choice for the iPhone, but the carrier wouldn't agree to Cupertino's demands at the time. Now that AT&T added 2 million wireless subscribers, many of which went with the iPhone, to Verizon's 1.2-million pickup last quarter, perhaps Seidenberg and company are changing their minds to hedge their bets a little.

Getting the iPhone onto Verizon's network, the largest in the country, would certainly be a boon to Apple. It can't expect AT&T to continue to siphon off subscribers from other carriers indefinitely.

There's a lot of folks who won't leave Verizon no matter how much they want an iPhone. But if Verizon offered the smartphone itself, they'd jump on it right away.