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>Instead of going to the store of a single carrier and having a dozen shitty phones shoved in your face by salespeople that made commission, you’d be in total c
by runn1ng 15y ago
>Instead of going to the store of a single carrier and having a dozen shitty phones shoved in your face by salespeople that made commission, you’d be in total control of the process. The end result of consumers getting to choose their carriers (and phones and plans) was clear: major competition and subsequently a rush of better deals from said carriers to ensure customer activation and retention.
>Or, you could buy whatever phone you wanted unlocked. Eventually, pay-as-you-go SIM cards would pop up in the U.S. as a result.
Well, I hate to break it to the author, but in Europe (at least, here in Central Europe), that is pretty much the standard and possible with both Android and iPhones (and Window 7 phones). You can buy the locked subsidised phones here, and actually, more people are doing it now than in the past, but the most are still unlocked.
The fact that it doesn't work in US has more in common that customers don't want that, not the carriers. With the pricey smartphones, actually, more people here in Europe are buying subsidised phones than with the cheap dumbphones of the past.
I just thought it's worth mentioning.
- ghshephard 15y agoMG Siegler (and many of us who travel) are well aware that in Europe, there is a lot more freedom regarding carriers and pay-as-you-go SIM cards. He explicitly added the "in the US" to make that clear. I assure you that most of us realize that the $199 iPhone we are getting with a 2 Year $70/month contract locked to AT&T is really a $1879 contract value.
- cstejerean 15y agoIt's starting to work in the US as well. You can now buy a full price unlocked iPhone directly from Apple and prepaid plans are starting to get better.
- e28eta 15y agoI was really excited about buying an unlocked iPhone 4S. And then I read this: The unlocked iPhone will not work with CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint. [1] Until an unlocked phone means I can switch between the major US carriers, it doesn't mean anything for me. I don't travel internationally, and when I do I'll hopefully be able to jailbreak and unlock. [1] http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4s http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...
- ansible 15y agoVerizon / Sprint use a completely different cellular technology than AT&T and T-Mobile. (Most acronyms have been intentionally left out for simplification) There are two distinct hardware versions of the iPhone 4S (and other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S 2) that need to work with the different sets of carriers. The situation will kinda/sorta be fixed with the next generation of technology, because most of the major carriers are adopting LTE, but there will still be issues with global roaming.
- riblack3 15y agoI believe the 4S did away with distinct models for GSM and CDMA. The cellular chip it uses can handle both, much like the Galaxy Nexus. (Unsure as to why the Nexus supports T-Mobile's AWS bands and the iPhone doesn't though, maybe the antennae.) I would speculate that the reason carrier unlocked phones do not work with CDMA is related to their agreement with Verizon (and/or Sprint).
- ansible 15y agoWell, I'm slightly surprised at that, but if anyone can do it, Qualcomm can. As for 3G bands, it is common enough to make a 3G system that supports 3 frequency bands. Supporting 4 is difficult, and 5 bands usually entails significant performance compromises. So since the carriers aren't all on the same bands, you usually have to pick and choose. The iPhone 4 previously had design issues with its antenna system anyway. They fixed it, or at least people don't complain about it anymore. But major fixes (like supporting an additional frequency band) might not be possible without significant re-design.