T-Mobile will be doing some interesting things this year, so you should keep an eye on them. You also should look at Google's Nexus 4, which is $299 or $349, is unlocked and works on GSM carriers.
Many MVNOs, like Virgin Mobile USA, Republic Wireless, FreedomPop and Straight Talk, offer interesting prepaid pricing deals and no contracts.
That is what I am also looking for. Get the phone and g with any provider you want. Also, we should not be bounded with any contract, it should be pay as you go.
It's not going to happen. The U.S. has both CDMA and GSM cellular operators, so switching SIM cards is less useful than in the many countries with GSM-only operators.
Also, so many frequencies and spectrum techniques are used for LTE that technologically it would be very difficult to offer LTE phones working across all operators in the U.S., let alone a "world phone." LTE compatibility will be a major problem for other countries, too.
Perhaps the FCC could have mandated interoperability among carriers with LTE, but it would have been too big of a political mess, even if the Commission wanted to get involved.
Cellular operators love two-year contracts because it locks customers in for, well, two years! In Canada, I think many contracts are for three years.
Contracts represent an ongoing revenue stream. And during that time, operators can try to sell subscribers other services.
Americans aren't used to paying full price for devices, even though that's the case in many other countries. Also, because the U.S. has both GSM and CDMA operators, subscribers just can't switch SIMs among all the operators, as is common in most other countries.
As for the FCC, I don't see them doing much if anything to change the contract situation. They don't consider it their business.
I'd love to see the US move to more of a European model for phones, where users can buy the phone and swap in SIM cards at will. I don't see that as likely anytime soon.
AT& T Consumer Leasing Services was handed off to Lucent when they spun off from AT&T in the late 90's. It was then folded into the Philips-Lucent Joint Venture (Philips Consumer Communications) in 1997 where I headed up global brand marketing. The JV was made up of Lucent's consumer communications products, which included ownership of the AT&T brand license and Philips consumer telecom products. We didn't actively promote leasing services during my tenure. Following the dissolution of the JV in 2000, the consumer leasing services division went back to Lucent and subsequently to Alcatel-Lucent who changed the name in 2008 following the merger.
With respect to the class action, AT&T did its best to keep it the shadows so it didn't get a lot of press. According to the law firm Kraft & Associates (no personal connection), the company admitted no wrongdoing agreeing to a settlement of $350 million to compensate those overcharged for leasing the phones. There were " . . . an estimated 30 million class members entitled to compensation. However, only 92,000 claims were filed, with payouts ranging from $15 to $80. Only $8 million has been paid out to consumers, while lawyers have received between $50 million and $80 million, and $50 million has been given to charity in the form of calling cards. The calling cards expired at the end of six months if they were not used" (http://www.texasbankruptcylawyer.com/the-most-expensive-phones-in-america/).
Where the industry should go is for mobile operators to sell you a phone (at full price), unlocked and offer no contract. Because if they are not subsidizing the device, why do they need a 24-month contract?
They can say there are some provisioning costs but then offer a 4 or 6 month contract (at the most).
Yes, I think subscribers could save money in the long run. The $300 discount on the retail price of a cellular phone is paid off long before the two-year contract ends. Take a look at T-Mobile's current Classic plans (subsidized phones) versus Value plans (unsubsidized phones and BYOD). Value plan airtime is less expensive.
I don't think T-Mobile will play fast and loose with pricing and airtime when it launches its full-retail-price strategy. Also, we should see T-Mobile offering innovative pricing for the iPhone and iPad with HSPA+ and, eventually, LTE. T-Mobile will offer installment plans, but I think the cost of the airtime for voice and data will be less than other cellular operators.
There are hints that T-Mobile might charge an upfront fee of $99 for an iPhone, with monthly installment payments and lower airtime costs than other cellular operators.
However, these pricing options require users to "do the math." It also will be a marketing challenge for T-Mobile to get people to understand that paying the full retail price could save money in the long run.
As for unlocked phones, that's a good question. T-Mobile hasn't said whether the unsubsidized phones will be unlocked. I assume that even if they aren't -- which they should be -- T-Mobile will unlock them quickly, such as after three months of use on the system.
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