Apple, Inc. broke its usual policy of remaining silent on rumors and speculation Tuesday by coming out publicly and flat out denying that it was planning a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service.

“We have not discussed nor do we have any plans to launch an MVNO,” said an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Reports that Apple was planning an MVNO service came from Business Insider Monday, who claimed to have learned from sources that Apple had even gone as far as testing an MVNO service in the United States, but so far had only held talks with potential network providers in Europe.

“Telecoms sources say Apple is looking long-term with its MVNO and could take at least five years to fully launch the service,” the original report noted, before adding “Apple has been in talks with telecoms companies for years over its MVNO plans, those sources say, adding that it’s an “open secret” among carriers that a virtual Apple network is on the way.”

As we noted in our original coverage, the potential of Apple providing MVNO services could have opened a Pandora’s Box of problems for the company, including potentially annoying carriers that sell the iPhone as it will further be competing with them (although naturally an MVNO requires wholesale services from a carrier), but more importantly legally in terms of competition and anti-trust concerns, as with the forthcoming non-removable sim option, Apple would both be the gatekeeper of which companies could provide cell services to iPhone users, as well as a provider in itself.

Stock price reaction?

Whether Apple has looked at setting up an MVNO or not we may never know for sure, but there’s a solid bet that its decision to deny the rumors may have been related to one singular, large factor: their share price.

To say the very least, investors didn’t like the idea of Apple becoming an MVNO, and sold the stock heavily with Apple’s share price dropping 4.4 percent in the first 90 minutes of trade on the NASDAQ Tuesday.

The company’s denial didn’t completely stem the flow, but APPL stock did recover slightly closing down 3.8 percent at $111.64; to put that in perspective, it might not sound like much of a drop, but that 3.8 percent drop reflects a drop of $23.9 billion in Apple’s market cap.

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