A couple of newspaper articles are prompting widespread speculation that Verizon may be ramping up to support an early 2011 launch of the iPhone on its network.

Exhibit A: A CNET report that details a hiring spree by several customer service center companies in the mobile phone industry. The article reads: “The hiring companies, Salt Lake City-based Teleperformance and Kennesaw, Ga.-based Ryla, are hiring at facilities around the country, with Ryla advertising for 1,700 positions in Indiana, California, Virginia, and Colorado. Though few of the job postings specify which company the new employees will be taking calls for, Teleperformance's Careerbuilder post says employees in Pennsylvania will field calls for a ‘major wireless cell phone service retailer.’”

Exhibit B: A Fresno Bee article that points outs that, “Ryla Inc., a Georgia-based company, is taking over operations at the Alorica Inc. call center on Shaw Avenue and plans to add at least 500 people to handle calls for a cellular/telecommunications company.” According to the article, “The new hires will be answering customer-service calls on behalf of a Ryla client identified only as a Fortune 50 cellular/telecommunications company that expects to increase its marketing and sales.”

Not to mention an Augusta Chronicle report that Teleperformance USA is hiring more than 300 people for its customer service center in order to support that needs of “a major wireless company.”

Currently, competitor AT&T retains exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the U.S. Verizon, on the other hand, has been peddling phones form HTC and Motorola that support Google’s Android operating system.

Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg hasn’t said much to encourage rumors that a Verizon version of the iPhone is about to debut. At a Goldman Sachs conference in September, Seidenberg reportedly said he hopes Apple will let Verizon sell its phone for a new network it’s building while remaining mum about an iPhone for its current network. The 4G network hasn't yet opened for service and won’t be complete next year.