i would think Amazon stood a better chance to get the Kindle into the Asian market, Japan first, in particuilar... much better phone system there.
if they simply released a "world version" with bluetooth for tethering, as well as wifi, they could get market penetration NOW. heck, there's probably a simple drop in card for them to do this. throw in a GPS and some maps for kicks, and people would go "gah"
as it stands now, telecomms are all uppity because they want us to think that a phone call is the most difficult thing in the world to manage, and omg, they cost $$$. yes, the infrastructure is expensive, and they (and the govts? and the people/taxes/fees) certainly pay for it... but once that network is up? oh yes, the data costs are ... pretty cheap. big $$$.
if Amazon wants to dominate, well, they'll find a way.
exReader