Why I might not be buying the iPhone, and why you might not either (rant on locked mobile phones)



Ok, that headline, it's a joke. Really. I mean, how are we going to resist? I'll buy the Apple iPhone, but I do have a message for Apple:

The Apple iPhone must ship as an open, or unlocked, handset. Period.

The coming iPhone (it is a certainty now, isn't it?) is highly anticipated to be sure, but will it be widely adopted? I think one factor will determine the ultimate success of the iPhone more than any other. It must be unlocked. We must be able to take the iPhone from the box and slip in our active SIM card and make calls immediately. From any provider.

Now, by "ultimate success" I don't mean to say that the success of the iPhone will be determined by sales figures alone: the iPhone will sell, just like the iPod. Be realistic. If Apple issues a locked iPhone through one handpicked provider many of us will buy it anyway, just to get our hands on Apple's latest greatest. No, I'm talking about how deeply the phone gets integrated into the user's life. If the iPhone ships as a locked device and it doesn't happen to be issued by our current provider many of us just might well continue to rely on or, worse, prefer to use our current phone with our current provider.

That's probably not what Apple is hoping for. I mean, they have to desire that the Apple iPhone be their customer's favorite handset, right? Right? I mean, it takes a significant amount of time to keep our mobile's synced with our Macs (if you use Bluetooth headsets you know what I'm talking about. We have to disconnect the headset before syning then reconnect it to make calls. Although not a big deal, this is a time toilet). It takes time to set up and maintain our connectivity settings. Then there's exploring features, customizing the phone. If we can't use the Apple iPhone as our primary handset, I suspect that hurt not help Apple's iPhone. The iPhone simply has to ship unlocked so we can use it with our chosen provider out of the box.

If unlocked handsets don't mean anything to you, be reminded that if you bought your current handset from your provider, say it's the dreaded AT$T Wireless, your phone is locked to that provider, regardless of the phone's manufacturer. That means that you can't simply decide to change your provider from AT$T to more customer-friendly T-Mobile and take your current phone with you. You have to buy a new phone if you want to switch. That sucks.

Sony Ericsson phones, for example, are sold by most of the mobile phone providers in the US, but they're locked to their respective networks. Your phone number is portable but your phone isn't. If you've ever tried to get your phone unlocked, you know that both parties point to the other, and in the end you're left with a useless phone. Sure, If you're diligent, you can pay a fee to have your phone unlocked so it will work on most networks, but the average user will simply discard the phone before digging around for this service (your provider won't unlock your phone for you, nor will the manufacturer). It's insane.

If you were able to slip your SIM card out of your AT$T Wireless Sony Ericsson T6xx then slip in your new SIM card, your phone would considered "Open" or unlocked. But that's not how it works: if you did put your T-Mobile SIM into a S/E phone you bought from AT$T you'd get an error message that renders the phone useless, even if both accounts were in good standing.

And that's where the iPhone comes in. The iPhone should ship unlocked so that it be used with any provider we the consumer choose. The consumer should be free to take the Apple iPhone from one provider to the next for any reason (contract notwithstanding). If you move from one city to another and you want/need a new provider, the iPhone should work for you on either network. If you have poor service from one provider and you want to try another provider, the iPhone should move from one to the other without a hitch. If a better deal comes up, well, you get the idea. Unlocked mobile phones mostly work in this way. Drop in your SIM card and go.

On a personal level, if the iPhone is to be of any true use to me it will have to work on T-Mobile. It's the only provider in my area that offers a signal near my home, where I use my phone regularly. I imagine that you're in a similar position: not all providers are available in your area.

There's no reason that Apple couldn't ship an unlocked iPhone, but my hunch is that they won't. The industry just moves in the locked-handset direction and I believe it will take a significant consumer movement to alter the course. As a result, Apple will step into the ring with its negotiators with the other side carrying the tacit understanding that Apple's phone will be locked to their network if a deal is to be struck. I hope I'm wrong. I sincerely hope SJ et al are on correct side of this issue.

There's no reason that phone manufacturers can't ship unlocked phones. In other words, a phone doesn't need to be locked to work on a provider's network. For example, I've got a S/E K700i and it will work on most all networks around the world because it's designed to function on a wide variety of frequencies and it's unlocked. "Unlocked," I love that word: I have the freedom to move from provider to provider and use the same phone. The same can't be said for the $350 T68i I bought from AT$T Wireless, unfortunately.

Conversely, I recently read that the popular K700i will soon be issued through a major provider in the States. Before this announcement, the phone wasn't available through a provider, it had to be purchased on the open market. Phones in this situation always cost more as the cost isn't subsidized by a provider. Regardless of which provider offers the K700i, you can be certain that it will ship locked to that network. I just hope your provider is the one who will sell the K700i, because when it works it's the best phone I've ever used. I hope I like the iPhone as much.

Sidebar: Providers have the twisted notion that if they lock phones customers buy from them somehow they'll be forced to be loyal. Perhaps it works for most people by default (we're forced into loyalty), I don't know, but I can say it doesn't work for me. I want my phone to work on any network I choose. Phone number portability is the first nail in the "locked" phone coffin, in my opinion. As more and more consumers learn that their-and I do mean "their"-phones are locked unnecessarily, mobile phone providers will get pressure to stop the practice. Perhaps it's still a long way off, but I'm willing to be that 95% of people today would choose to buy a phone they can use with other providers (read unlocked) rather than one that is stuck to one provider. The practice is ridiculous.

A locked Apple iPhone will be a huge success, no question about that. But it would be a shame. Apple's got an estimated 25 million fanatical fans: We've all been clamoring for an iPhone for years, if not a full decade. If Apple succumbs to the conventional wisdom of the provider ("providers ship phones locked to their own network") they partner with to issue the iPhone, it will be a disservice to its customers. It's that simple.

Imagine if your iPod would only work with Apple's online ITunes Music Store if you used Earthlink to connect you to the service. Insane, yes, I can hear you now. Well, that's essentially the same thing current mobile phone providers are doing to you now.

The only exception to this situation with the Apple iPhone would be some technical issue I'm not aware of requiring special network equipment for the iPhone to interact with the ITMS, but that seems unlikely: there are already music download services available to mobile phone users. The ITMS should work with any provider's network so long as Apple has the right to sell the music in the network's geographical region.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do think that an unlocked Apple iPhone is in line with the company's customer service philosophy. They just have to stand firm on the issue. Really, wouldn't a locked Apple iPhone be so 1984?

Pece

Posted: Mon - January 3, 2005 at 09:20 AM          

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