Big wireless carriers get set to free the phone
| March 29, 2008 |  View for printing |
It is a scenario rarely seen in today's technology market: Cellphone customers wander into any store, pick any device from a shelf, and connect it to any wireless network - one as open as the Internet.
But spurred by growing demand and a federal airwaves auction that closed last week, the major wireless carriers are stepping away from a model in which each cellphone is controlled by a single company that sells customers a device locked to their network, demands a lengthy contract, and limits the phone's features.
"We call it a 180-degree about-face to open access, and it really is a fundamental shift in business models - if we can get there," said Linda Barrabee, senior analyst at Yankee Group, a technol ogy research firm, and author of a recent report, "Open Access is the New Black."
By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Full Story: http://www.boston.com/business/techn ... _the_phone/
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