Thursday, October 28, 2010

Phones Not Tied To Carriers

I took this photo of my iPhone and its SIM slot.Image via WikipediaLaptops don't come tied to cable internet companies. Why do phones come tied to phone companies? You should be able to buy a phone, and it should be wi-fi enabled, and you should not have to pay anything in addition to what you pay for your internet access, and you should have Skype on your phone, and that is it. Smartphones are app heavy in the first place. All they need is internet access. What they need is wi-fi.
GigaOm: Is Apple About to Cut Out the Carriers?: Much like it helped cut operators out of the app store game, Apple could be taking them out of the device retail game. ..... customers can roam more easily with the iPhones, swapping out the carriers as needed .... a nightmare for carriers. Apple could change the mobile game once again.
This is still too small a step. This only means you don't have to buy your phone from a carrier. But you still have to get activated. You still have to get on their network to make your calls. That getting on the network part has to become unnecessary. Let them all go into the internet access business. Let them compete. Force them to share their networks with small vendors.
TechCrunch: With Their Carrier-Crippling SIM, Can Apple Do What Google Chickened Out Of?: this would allow customers to jump from carrier to carrier as a better deal came along or as they were traveling without having to swap SIM cards .... Google’s original plan was to sell the Nexus One for $99, unlocked, on their website ..... when they ran this idea by the carriers (which they had to work with because they control the networks they need, remember) they were told to go to hell. ...... Enter Apple. .... The company has proven time and time again that they don’t care who they piss off in order to push their own agenda forward. That agenda includes creating the best consumer experience possible. A big part of that in the cellphone business would be allowing customers to buy a phone and pick carriers based on who has the best deals/options..... The iPhone is now by far Apple’s largest source of revenue.
There has been something fundamentally wrong going on at the network level. Speeds don't go up, prices don't go down, choices stay stagnant. There is not enough competition.
ReadWriteWeb: Report: Apple Building Own SIM Card for Fast Carrier Swapping: Built-in choice of carriers could increase competition, drive down data prices and potentially impact limitations on what kinds of apps are allowed on the iPhone, in as much as carriers object to things like VOIP and tethering. ...... "Technology for this is easy," he said. "[The] business execution is hard. Carriers won't give away the control that easily. The chances of this working first are higher in the prepaid markets vs. the postpaid markets like North America. This will happen eventually though."
The networks have been screwing the consumers. They have been acting like the oil oligarchies in Russia.
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