I think the "carrier restrictions" of stuff mostly were a thing in the US? In Norway I bought most of my phones even back then outright. And if one didn't, the

I think the "carrier restrictions" of stuff mostly were a thing in the US? In Norway I bought most of my phones even back then outright. And if one didn't, the effect was mostly that the phone was locked to only accept sim cards from the same operator. Didn't have much impact on features of the phone itself.