Verizon iPhone 4 pre-orders begin at 3AM Eastern on February 3rd

In an email to current customers on Friday, Verizon Wireless confirmed that it will begin taking pre-orders for the iPhone for at 3:00AM Eastern Time next Thursday, February 3rd. The email confirms earlier rumors to the same effect. Only existing Verizon Wireless subscribers are eligible for pre-orders AT&T iPhone users and others looking to open a Verizon account when purchasing a new CDMA iPhone 4 will have to wait until the phone becomes available to the general public a week later on February 10th. Pre-orders will be available on a first-come, first-served basis so interested parties may when to set an early alarm and get their pre-orders processed as quickly as possible.

Why 3:00AM? For one thing, 3 oclock on the 3rd has a nice ring to it. For another, only very, very excited people will get up at that hour to place their pre-orders. Of course, there are plenty of very excited people out there, but getting the overly-anxious customers out of the way in the middle of the night means crashes and server issues are less likely during the day.