Many other bloggers (education types as well as others -and http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2117/135/-) have noticed Canadians pay quite a bit for wireless services, to say nothing about mobile data. Many have asked why… generally the answer is greed on the part of the telcos. But topping this, I think it also has something to do with what the telcos think smartphones are really for… they think they are for business only use up here, where everywhere else in the world is thinking that smartphones are for everyone. This is something that Rogers is going to have to change if it wants the iPhone (or so the Globe mentioned recently), as it seems that Bell is planning on doing with it’s new Windows Mobile device – and considering that Rogers is now also jumping onto Windows Mobile, they are going to have take notice.
Apple has certainly changed a few things already – shifting power in the wireless sphere from the networks to the handheld maker, something that I think is already the case elsewhere in the world where unlocked phones rule. Apple has been able to make demands of wireless carriers the world over. This is something that might might certainly happen with Google’s Android as well, especially with the weight of an Alliance.
If you put this together – handset manufacturers that actually manage the user experience and customers that have the choice to access the utility that is wireless service as they want – and what might happen… I don’t know, but I think it’s going to look something like the way that laptops and desktops look like on wired networks. If you think about it, in that model, there is still quite a bit of money being made, and it’s certainly worked to get us to this point.
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