Yes, I see your point that the pricing of the pipes is still weird and uneven. What I mean is that I can pick my network based mainly on the price of their pipe

Yes, I see your point that the pricing of the pipes is still weird and uneven. What I mean is that I can pick my network based mainly on the price of their pipe, not the availability of some handset or because it's the only one available in a certain area. This seems to be the theme of US carriers: driving people to buy the service not because of the service itself, but because of the other details. But then I suppose coverage is a service, especially in the large and sparse fields of the US. Of course nothing is perfect. Just interesting as a contrast.