Verizon Wireless invites press to mystery event

 Verizon Wireless is planning a news conference Tuesday, reigniting rumors that it will become the second U.S. carrier to sell Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show this past week in Las Vegas, Verizon  made news with phones and tablets that will run on its high-speed, next-generation 4G wireless network. So it’s significant that Verizon will still have an announcement big enough to warrant a press conference in Manhattan a week later, with Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications Inc., in attendance.

Verizon would not give any further details as to what the event was about. Apple did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Rumors that Verizon would carry the iPhone have been circulating since before Apple Inc. unveiled the smart phone in 2007. Those rumors lingered over the years, but have become louder in recent months, as AT&T Inc. is believed to be nearing the end of its exclusive hold on the iPhone.

Although the iPhone has long been the crown jewel of AT&T’s smart phone portfolio, the carrier in recent months added more than a dozen phones that run Google Inc.’s Android software. Until now, Verizon made up for not having the iPhone by selling Android phones such as the Motorola Droid.

Apple, as usual, did not attend the gadget show in Las Vegas. The company tends to make big product announcements at its own news conferences.