Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“So what "cheap" 3G phone can you get that is a replacement for an iPhone?
What about accessories? Chargers, cases, car cradle, headsets etc.
The reality is that the costs are simply too high for the networks to risk the revenue loss of dumping these customers.
Anything that rocks the cradle is bad for business.
The latest stats put it at something like 45% 2G handsets, 55% 3G handsets in the UK.
I think that the fact the networks would rather sell a cheap 2G handset than lose a customer speaks volumes about how they see the issue.”
And how many original iPhones do you really think are out there? I bet the answer is not many at all.
Most 2G phones out there will either be very old phones that can be replaced with similar functionality by a cheap 3G phone, or will be newer cheap 2G phones that can be replaced by a similar cheap 3G phone.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that they won't turn off 2G for ages because of what you say (anything that "changes" things is often seen as bad). But we would all be better off if they did.
Also, I wonder what is the point of selling new 2G handsets at this point? Ignoring the coverage issues, as that would be pretty much be solved in the blink of an eye if the networks could use 2G frequencies for 3G.