Reply to post: Don't buy phones from telcos

Apple faces €48.5m fine from furious French

Fihart

Don't buy phones from telcos

It may be convenient for manufacturers and short-attention-span consumers but retailing phones via cellular providers is a recipe for exploitation.

Okay, smart shoppers can sometimes take advantage of locked phone contracts but the majority of users are just treated like cash cows, happily paying through the nose for a "free" phone.

Apple is the most egregious example, where perfectly functional phones are artificially hobbled so that they lock to the first provider they're used with.

This doesn't require legislation (though it would help to grow altenative retail channels for phones ) instead just spread the word that everyone should buy unlocked phones and then pick a provider which offers a deal sufficiently transparent to ensure individuals can choose a plan priced to really suit them.

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