It's not as if we don't already have enough bloatware on our new Verizon phones and tablets. Verizon has its own messaging app (probably a holdover from the featurephone days), its own Navigator app and its own cloud backup and storage service, just to name a few.

Our Google Play-certified Android devices already have an excellent free navigation app, a decent messaging app and a low-maintenance way of transferring our contacts and other data from our old phones to our new ones (though I'm sure Verizon's method would prove useful if coming from a Windows Phone or iOS device). I will state for the record, though, that I find the My Verizon and NFL Mobile apps to be quite useful.

It's not hard to imagine Verizon trying once again to bring in even more than their already exorbitant amount of profit by opening another revenue stream. This despite the denial by Verizon spokesperson of allegations that Big Red is planning to build its own app ecosystem again. Verizon's latest blind swipe at the app store piñata will allegedly be different though. Of course The Information (subscription required paywall), who initially reported on this, contends that their story was accurate.

2/ What we reported: $VZ having conversations w/OEMs, other carriers, app devs about creating an alternative to @GooglePlay. That's a fact.

- Amir Efrati (@amir) August 20, 2014
1/ Verizon playing a semantics game. $VZ is attempting to build a coalition of partners + a product that's more than traditional app store

- Amir Efrati (@amir) August 20, 2014
For one thing, Verizon is supposedly adding a new level of curation beyond what today's app stores offer. Based on your location and time of day (you do realize they routinely collect this information on you, right?) their app store could recommend new apps to you. One can only imagine what their app store would recommend if it detects you approaching a T-Mobile store. Let's hope they don't spam your notification drawer (they probably would though).

Apparently Verizon's also considering letting app developers advertise within the app store, so that annoying notification for that new app recommendation might also be an ad from an overly zealous developer for an app completely unrelated to your location or the time of day. By the way, aren't you glad that Big Brother Red is always looking over your shoulder, tracking where you go and when? Sure, Google also does this in a manner of speaking but you already knew that, right? Google doesn't shoot app recommendations to you based on that though (they just shoot Google Now cards at you - much less creepy, right?).

One strategy I imagine Verizon's exploring is possibly skirting Net Neutrality issues by allowing all mobile data-consuming apps in its app store to gulp down those geebees at a discounted rate. Also, their bean counters must be salivating at the prospect of getting a cut of every paid app and raking in the extra ad revenue. In case you're wondering, these are some reasons why many carriers aren't content with being dumb pipes. Speaking of many carriers, this alleged venture by Big Red also reportedly includes other carriers, though talks are apparently at the earliest stages.

Whatever comes out of this rumor/denial, you can be certain that Verizon and other carriers (especially in the U.S.) are not going to just become dumb pipes anytime soon - there's just too much potential for profit. On the (perhaps overly optimistic) bright side, if Verizon does follow through with this alleged venture, they might let you remove their bloat store app store once you've set your new device up.

h/t Android Police