Tue, 8 Apr 2008 09:57:21 -0400 Monty Solomon quoted a Cnet story:
Carriers keeping hands on the reins
> Posted by Marguerite Reardon
> April 7, 2008 4:00 AM PDT
> Over the last few months, mobile operators have been falling over
> each other to profess their networks as "open," but a closer look at
> what they're really doing suggests they have a long way to go.
I get the thrust of this article, but it is only dealing with Verizon's intransigence and only references the CDMA standard. If the article went further to really show everything it would show that the GSM standard, which is used by over 2.5 billion people world-wide already, is mostly open with compatibility already there for anyone with a frequency compatible GSM handset. CDMA could be just as compatible if it were not for the fact that operators are dragging their feet on the opening of letting people use their preferred equipment with their networks.
In some parts of the world such as China where the CDMA networks use R-UIM (which is a "SIM compatible" smart card), you can use any compatible equipment on any network. It's only networks' intransigence that prevents that happening in the US (or Canada.)