iCan't Live Without My Cell Phone

Let’s talk service for a moment here—cell phone to be precise. The main providers argue over who has the better cell phone service and ways to use their minutes. If those things were really what mattered, then why do they make phone companies sign ridiculous agreements to not offer the same phone to the other providers?

Cell phone providers like every other business is out there to make money—got it. But what makes them money is when people sign-up, upgrade before they are suppose to, ridiculous fees, and when they leave (assuming they broke a contract). How does this business model benefit cell phone companies—who by the way make the provider a ‘need to have’?

The average agreement seems to be two years. Cell phone companies like Blackberry, HTC or Apple have to wait two years before they can offer their unique phone to another provider. I see where this is profitable for the original provider, but how is it profitable for the cell phone company? I would think that the phone companies would make more money by selling phones through as many providers as they can.

So back to my original comment, the providers pitch better service and minutes as consumer priority. I guess that has nothing to do with it because if it did, they would allow their customers to select a provider based on those things. Instead, the cellular providers have created a market where people jump back and forth between them just because of the phone.