The running joke is that after the Bell monopoly was broken up, AT&T just changed its name dropped references to the name “Bell” and reacquired competitors to become a monopoly again.
Granted this was 15 years ago. The market was a lot different than it is now.
That being said, most people still buy their phones through their carrier. So whatever the carrier sales reps get paid the most to sell is what they push people towards.
Well considering the article is about a product launch in the US… seems relevant. Carrier locking isn’t illegal at all in the US.
They didn’t even used to have to unlock it once a contract was over, not that most carriers at the time would allow unlocked phones on their network anyway, they do at least have to do that now.
it’s crazy to me that american carriers can basically hold hardware ransom.
The running joke is that after the Bell monopoly was broken up, AT&T just
changed its namedropped references to the name “Bell” and reacquired competitors to become a monopoly again.Granted this was 15 years ago. The market was a lot different than it is now.
That being said, most people still buy their phones through their carrier. So whatever the carrier sales reps get paid the most to sell is what they push people towards.
Yeah, but carrier locked phones are illegal in many places (and always have been), aren’t they still allowed in the US?
Well considering the article is about a product launch in the US… seems relevant. Carrier locking isn’t illegal at all in the US.
They didn’t even used to have to unlock it once a contract was over, not that most carriers at the time would allow unlocked phones on their network anyway, they do at least have to do that now.