Verizon has invited reporters to a press event where it is expected the wireless carrier will announce it will carry the iPhone. At the Consumer Electronics Show, conference goers weighed in on the news.

The iPhone is finally coming to Verizon Wireless.

The largest U.S. wireless carrier will make the long-awaited announcement at an event Tuesday in New York City, people familiar with the matter said. The phone will make its way to Verizon Wireless stores around the end of January, a person familiar with the matter said.

The move will for the first time let U.S. consumers choose the network that carries their iPhone and perhaps give them additional pricing options that could affect their monthly bills.

Top Verizon executives have continued to meet regularly with their counterparts at Apple, however, and have long expressed interest in carrying the iPhone, which could help add to the carrier's base of 93 million subscribers. Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, has estimated that Verizon could add more than 10 million U.S. iPhone customers.Android-based phones passed the iPhone in sales in the second quarter, according to research firm Gartner. The surge appeared to get to Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who made a rare appearance on a conference call with analysts in October and criticized Android as fragmented, referring to the myriad ways the software appears on the many different phones that use it.

AT&T has had the iconic device to itself since its introduction in June 2007.

Since then, the iPhone has fueled much of the carrier's subscriber growth and has given it a solid lead in smartphone customers.

The arrangement between Apple and AT&T was groundbreaking at a time when carriers tightly controlled the appearance and function of their phones, and put Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Google in the wireless industry's driver's seat.

Verizon will announce on Tuesday that the network will support Apple's iPhone. Earlier, MarketWatch's John Letzing talked with Lauren Rudser about a cryptic invitation Verizon sent and the significance of the anticipated announcement.

"It's a big boost for Apple," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of New York-based Solaris Asset Managmenet which counts Apple in its portfolio worth $2 billion. "It opens up a huge uninstalled base for them in this country."Apple feels it has had tremendous success through its exclusive relationship with AT&T, but it recognized that it needs to partner with Verizon to grow sales faster in the U.S., a person familiar with the matter said.

Verizon Wireless fought its way back into the smartphone race last year by heavily promoting Google-powered phones made by companies like Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and HTC Corp.

"It's great news," said Michael Benkoski, 55 years old, who works at a technology leasing company in Chicago. "I've been waiting for it for about two years."

At a press event in New York Tuesday, Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead provided details about when the iPhone 4 will available on his company's network and how much it will cost.