There’s an interesting story on MarketWatch about U.S. lawmakers using a Congressional hearing to bash cell phone providers for, among other things, restrictive termination fees and locking specific phones into specific networks. One of the lawmakers specifically started whining that the iPhone shouldn’t be available only through AT&T, saying other networks should have access to the phone (sounds like a guy who just started a 2-year commitment with Sprint).
Anyway, I agree that in the short-run, it would appear to be better for consumers if you could use any phone with any network, but it seems to me that would defeat the ability of businesses to capitalize on good ideas. The iPhone is a very unique product, one that has certainly stimulated buyers, and it seems appropriate to me that AT&T and Apple should be able to derive some economic benefit from their willingness to invest in rolling out the new product at what I’m sure was a great expense; after all, do you think the other networks would be clamoring for iPhone access if the thing had been a big bomb? It’s great that Congress has all of this time to become junior CEOs, but this is a case where the market is rewarding companies (and their stockholders) for innovation.
Due to the success of the iPhone, it’s just a matter of time before the competitors bring out their own versions of iPhones, which will ultimately improve consumer selection and drive down prices — way more than yet another bill from Congress legislating business principles
