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This concerns me. I see wireless network providers as being a natural enemy to low-priced and consumer-friendly evolution of wireless services. Their goals seem to be diametrically opposed. The consumer-friendly endgame makes them a commodity provider of network bandwidth. The provider-friendly endgame sees them with all kinds of new for-fee services being controlled entirely by the provider. And, unfortunately, people who create the mobile platforms are in a unique position to influence the balance of power. So now we have a 12% stake in a mobile platform creator (who is already vulnerable to the demands of carriers). Definitely concerns me with respect to the consumer's position in the long run. I'm not generally a Microsoft basher, but it seems to me that this same carrier and content provider influence has already struck home with Microsoft, influencing things for the worse relative to the consumer. Where does the balance come from? Maybe the best hope is that linux platforms will force MS, Access, Symbian, etc. to keep the consumer in mind relative to wireless charges. Thank goodness there are wimax and other longer range internet access technologies that may keep wireless providers on their toes.
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