> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" And do you think you will always get the bes

> Or maybe you land in a new country, the iPhone is like "hey I see you're in a new country, want a data package?" And do you think you will always get the best prices/services compared to SIM cards sold to locals? I don't think the incentives go that way. It's more like step 1) limit the visibility of the alternatives in the name of convenience/simplicity step 2) "these are not the alternatives you are looking for" For the phone company, their best bet is that they'll nickel and dime you through roaming, if for some reason you need this exact phone number to receive calls. If you just need to use your skype/google voice number , they know you don't need roaming, as a local company will be less expansive, but they can still try to push you towards their "friendly favored partner" (which bad prices due to generous revenue sharing agreement) If your phone is unlocked and is not ESIM only, there's nothing they can do to let local competition deliver you the cheapest service