I think wireless providers should allow interchangeability but I understand why they want to fight it. They would have to work harder to keep consumers. Right now they have a somewhat captive audience that in order to switch faces considerable hassle. Anything that allows consumers more freedom in controlling how they use the expensive devices they purchase I am for it. Too many companies want to force customers to operate in a commune. They are going to have to learn that just because they sell something to someone doesn’t mean they own that person and their future decisions.
Personally I’d like to see more laws prohibiting anticompetitive contracts that interfere with the consumer’s ability to easily switch services when dissatisfied. We see this in all kinds of contracts from rental agreements to cell phone service agreements. Businesses should not be protected from the dissatisfaction of their customers and customers should not have to bear the brunt of financial cost when they decide to break a relationship with a service provider. A consumer driven capitalist engine will drive higher quality, greater freedom, and higher value for all.
I do not think it is a coincidence that in the industries and organizations where consumers have the least real control that the service and the value is the least.
I'm not so sure about that. At the other end of the spectrum you would have a business model where consumer entry/exit costs nothing -- which means you end up with cheap, sh!tty service all around. Sort of like driving on public roads these days.
Thanks to the US CONgress, those of us who work out in the boonies are incommunicado.
It’s even more simple than that. Free all phone services from regulatory control and watch rates plummet and services increase.