Sprint CEO Tells Verizon To "Check Its Facts" Over Pre Exclusivity

With the Palm Pre set to hit stores tomorrow – you can read our review of the Pre here – Sprint have spoken out again regarding Verizon's apparent claim that they'd have the smartphone over the next six months or so.  Sprint had previously replied that they have the Pre "through 2009"; at the handset's launch party, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse suggested that their exclusivity agreement is longer than a mere six months.

"They need to check their facts, that just is not the case.  Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal.  But I can tell you it's not six months" Dan Hesse, CEO, Sprint

With Pre reviews going live across the internet yesterday, some commentators – notably David Pogue in his piece for the New York Times – suggested that the Verizon Palm Pre would indeed be coming, and that buyers might be wise to wait until the handset was no longer tied to Sprint.  AT&T have also expressed an interest in carrying the GSM version of the smartphone, once Sprint's exclusivity ends.

Hesse' s comments will be interpreted as confirming that Sprint have the Pre well into 2010, though of course his "fact check" could indeed be that Palm have agreed a shorter length of time.  What's important to him – and the carrier as a whole – is that doubts over the arrangement are quashed as soundly as possible.