said by TKJunkMail 
:I think the point he is making is that as "Open unlocked phones" become available, the market for subsidized locked down phones from the telcos will disappear. Meaning that to use cellphone networks in the future you will have to BUY your phone.
Whether it happens that way or not is up for debate, but he does make a valid point.
Of course, the other side of this debate is that if subsidized phones disappear, cell phone calling rates will decrease due to the providers not having to carry the cost of subsidized phones. But I doubt that calling rates will drop enough to make a difference to those users who will now have to buy their phones separately.
The thing is, that with the carriers subsidizing phones, the retail cost of phones does not reflect true market prices. The current retail prices are artificially supported by the prices the big 4 are willing to pay the manufactures for the phones. So anyone currently buying retail is over paying.
