Well, this blows.
I’m really struggling with how backwards the US cellphone system seems to be even in comparison to the already pretty awful UK one.
I can’t believe how much power the networks have here to screw around with phones; Nokia seem to be held hostage by AT&T and are only allowed to sell gimped versions of their products that are substantially inferior to the international versions (e.g. 1520 without the Qi charging, and half the normal amount of storage). Or the 2520 tablet, seemingly tailor made for T-Mobile’s new “free” LTE data plan - but only available through AT&T and Verizon - I don’t know if the contract-free ones you can buy from those two will work on T-Mobile - not sure if the radios will be compatible even if the devices are (as they should be) unlocked.
Even the “non-contract” deals are awful in comparison to UK pay-as-you-go ones - they still have monthly charges and the credits all expire each month. Even the network with the most consumer friendly deals (T-Mob) doesn’t offer a true PAYG deal (i.e. no monthly charges, just pay per use). I really can’t believe there isn’t a market to sell tablet data in non-expiring amounts ($x per GB?) - just this bullshit deal where you have to pay $10 a month to add another device to your plan without getting any extra allowances - how can that possibly cost the network anything even close to $10 a month? It’s like they want you to tether instead. I don’t get it.
There should be legislation forcing the decoupling of cellphones/tablets from the networks they run on. They’re just a pipeline, nothing more. They should have to state what amount of the monthly contract payment is handset subsidy, and be forced to offer a price for just the line rental alone if you BYOD. I’d like to see carrier exclusives banned - they’re anti-competitive and bad for consumers and hardware manufacturers; See how being locked into AT&T (again) has really messed up the Moto X’s sales.
I am definitely jumping ship to T-Mobile once my contract with the evil empire expires. Their options are still pretty expensive and not all that great, but definitely a step in the right direction. Of course, their handset selection blows. As much as I don’t like Google, something like an unlocked Nexus looks to be a better deal every day (although, of course, as with Google/Amazon subsidized tablets, if hardware is always sold at cost/at a loss by companies who make their money elsewhere, the pure hardware manufacturers are all stuffed).
