Update 2: Amir Efrati, author of The Information's report, says Verizon is a lying piece of crap:

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

Efrati goes on to write that they know for a fact Verizon has been probing carriers, OEMs, and developers about its own Google Play alternative.