USA Today has an article about US cell phone companies and some of their less-popular policies. Despite the article’s focus on the iPhone, it’s all old news. But the piece provides a good overview of the dismal situation here in the states: locked down phones, crippled features, poor service, long contracts, and so on:
To many, the Apple (AAPL) iPhone is the ultimate wireless device — a seductive blend of technology, function and dead-on cool, all wrapped into a sleek package.
To others, it’s a glaring example of what’s wrong with the U.S. wireless industry in general.
“The iPhone offers superior technology, but public policies in this country allow (Apple) to chain that technology to one massive company, AT&T (T), rather than allow consumers to make the choices they want,” charges Josh Silver, co-founder of Free Press, a consumer advocacy group. His latest campaign — “Free the iPhone” — promotes an open Internet and consumer-friendly public policies for mobile devices. The website (www.freetheiphone.org) has resulted in “tens of thousands of supporting petitions,” he says.
Silver says his beef isn’t with the iPhone per se. Other U.S. carriers do the same thing with the devices they sell. But the iPhone, he says, “is a great example of how badly broken our media system is in this country.”
For starters, he notes, would-be iPhone users must sign a two-year contract, or contract extension, with AT&T, the sole U.S. distributor. Owners can access the Internet only via AT&T’s network, unless they happen to be in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot. And the iPhone works only with software sold by Apple and AT&T.
This won’t get better any time soon, but there are a few options — the availability of unlocked phones is improving, and prepaid service is one way to avoid lengthy contracts.
