On 2008-05-16, BruceR <razrbruce@NOgmailSPAM.com> wrote:
> M.L. wrote:
>>>>> Selection certainly could be one factor- their selection is piss
>>>>> poor, unless you want one of there seeming endless "limited
>>>>> edition" Sidekicks, the quasi-PDa for the slacker generation.
>>>>> High-end handset selection is one of the worst.
>>>>
>>>> Most unlockable AT&T phones are available to T-Mobile users.
>>>
>>> True, but that'd be hard for T-Mo to market wouldn't it? "Buy your
>>> phone at AT&T for full price, then come to us for service! For a
>>> limited time, we'll pay the unlocking fee!"
>>>
>>> I wouldn't hold my breath...
>>
>> T-mobile doesn't have to sell that feature at all. Many T-mobile
>> users, including myself, purchased an AT&T phone to use with T-mobile
>> service.
>
> Same here, I buy my phones overseas usually and just pop in my TMo SIM.
> The whole concept of buying a phone from the carrier is really quite odd
> and pretty much limited to the USA & Canada.

It is hardly limited to the USA and Canada, it is also common in
countries in Europe and Asia I'm familiar with. The carrier will
sell you a discounted, branded phone in return for you signing
a contract. The discounts are often much deeper than in the US
in fact. In the UK they'll give you very high end phones for free
in return for signing a sufficiently high priced contract (there are
people who have never paid for a phone) since there is no such thing
as an Early Termination Fee there and contracts commit you to pay for
the full term.

It is the case that in most of those countries it is much easier
than in the US to find a store selling unbranded phones, but buying
discounted phones from the carrier is still popular.

> company (since the Carterphone decision of 40 years ago anyway) so why
> would one buy a mobile phone from a mobile operator?

Because the operator will sell it to you cheap? That's the exact
opposite of the situation after Carterphone when it was the equipment
from third parties that was cheap.

Dennis Ferguson