Apple had to pair with a carrier and offer exclusive rights in order to get back in return what they wanted. The ability to control the plan purchasing via iTun

Apple had to pair with a carrier and offer exclusive rights in order to get back in return what they wanted. The ability to control the plan purchasing via iTunes, selling the iPhone out of Apple stores, sell songs directly via iTunes, etc. Carriers still hold the key so it was really the only way Apple could do these things. And yeah, the end result is that the user is the one who suffers..