Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is the largest wireless provider in the United States. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) claims it wants its iPhone being used by as many Americans as possible. Sounds like a match made in heaven -- for consumers and investors. But if you've ever looked into it, you know that Verizon subscribers can't use the iPhone. Huh? Why? There are apparently two reasons.

First of all, Apple is locked into an exclusive contract with AT&T (NYSE: T) that some reports believe runs through 2012, though most details remain a secret. Second, Apple uses a standard "GSM" hardware configuration that plays nicely with AT&T and most other providers the world over -- but not with Verizon's system.

Fool.com analyst Eric Bleeker thinks both of these hurdles are easily surmountable -- and believes the value of an Apple-Verizon partnership would be so rich that Apple should do whatever it takes to jump over them.

America -- indeed, the world -- is still in the early stages of smartphone revolution, and adoption rates may never again be as high as they are right now. Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) is taking advantage of this hot climate by marketing similar phone models across every major phone carrier, while Google is practically giving away its go-anywhere Android in order to get established quickly in the mobile marketplace.

So, unless there's something truly lucrative in the fine print of that Apple-AT&T marriage contract, Apple is squandering its fortunes in the name of fidelity. The time to make bold market moves is now, while buyers coalesce around a few dominant platforms. C'mon, Apple, your investors are screaming for you to play the field!

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