If you’re in the UK and want an iPhone or a Pre, you now only have one provider. O2 just won an exclusive deal with Palm to be the only carrier of the Pre. As O2 is already the exclusive provider for the iPhone across the pond, that means a Brit out for one of these two phones is roped into one provider. And that kind of sucks.
Monopolies are bad as they encourage laziness. In the US, you can only get an iPhone on AT&T, which is known for its poor coverage. Yet the desirability of the handset ropes people into two year contracts with a provider that has no impetus to improve its service. That’s why the FCC is investigating phone exclusivity in the US.
The alternative would be if every handset were available from every provider. If that were the case, users would go to the provider which gave the best coverage and the best deal in a certain area. But unfortunately for now, we live with some pretty limited consumer choice.
