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It's ironic that unlocked phones benefit carriers arguably as much as locked phones do. An unlocked phone makes it easier to switch carriers, thus cheaper for c

It's ironic that unlocked phones benefit carriers arguably as much as locked phones do. An unlocked phone makes it easier to switch carriers, thus cheaper for carriers to acquire customers, but maybe they'd all rather have it be expensive to acquire customers so that it's harder for smaller providers to compete. Either way, I don't think that the DMCA was designed to ensure a telecom oligopoly.

rdtsc 14y ago
> An unlocked phone makes it easier to switch carriers But this also means losing customers, and losing that predictable 2 year revenue. They know their own services and prices and customer service is utter crap (at least here in US), I don't think any of them are delusional, so they don't want people to leave on a whim, because (gasp!) they might have to actually start competing (lowering prices, better customer services etc.).
- thisone 14y ago
  Carriers have an escape clause fee in their contracts. If you cancel your contract, you get hit with the fee. I don't think phones should be locked to any carrier. Instead change the contract rules. If you cancel after the cooling off period and in the first 30 days you pay (blah), and every month there after it's (blah) - (something)*number of Months. Only if the phone was subsidized by the contract, of course. I say this as someone who needs to be able to change out sims when I travel.
  - girvo 14y ago
    That's exactly how it works in Australia, and I believe that is fair.
amurmann 14y ago
I don't think it's ironic at all. Big corporations spend more on lobbying and only want a free marked where it helps them. Big corporations are the biggest threat to a functioning and free market.
chimeracoder 14y ago
Verizon has been trying to persuade me off their unlimited 4G data plan for ages now (I'm grandfathered in). Little do they realize that, as soon as they remove the one incentive I have to stick with Verizon, I'm ditching them for an open carrier. Amusingly, I'm also paying for much more data than I use - I use maybe ~200-300 MB/month, so there's no way they're losing money off of me. But then again, we've learned time and again that the data caps have nothing to do with costs....

rdtsc 14y ago

> An unlocked phone makes it easier to switch carriers But this also means losing customers, and losing that predictable 2 year revenue. They know their own services and prices and customer service is utter crap (at least here in US), I don't think any of them are delusional, so they don't want people to leave on a whim, because (gasp!) they might have to actually start competing (lowering prices, better customer services etc.).

thisone 14y ago
Carriers have an escape clause fee in their contracts. If you cancel your contract, you get hit with the fee. I don't think phones should be locked to any carrier. Instead change the contract rules. If you cancel after the cooling off period and in the first 30 days you pay (blah), and every month there after it's (blah) - (something)*number of Months. Only if the phone was subsidized by the contract, of course. I say this as someone who needs to be able to change out sims when I travel.
- girvo 14y ago
  That's exactly how it works in Australia, and I believe that is fair.

amurmann 14y ago

I don't think it's ironic at all. Big corporations spend more on lobbying and only want a free marked where it helps them. Big corporations are the biggest threat to a functioning and free market.

chimeracoder 14y ago

Verizon has been trying to persuade me off their unlimited 4G data plan for ages now (I'm grandfathered in). Little do they realize that, as soon as they remove the one incentive I have to stick with Verizon, I'm ditching them for an open carrier. Amusingly, I'm also paying for much more data than I use - I use maybe ~200-300 MB/month, so there's no way they're losing money off of me. But then again, we've learned time and again that the data caps have nothing to do with costs....