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this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Okay so I'm from a third world shithole but I still don't get it
In the west it seems that most people rent phones on contract from a mobile service provider, which includes the mobile service like calls, texts and data all in one monthly payment, is that correct? If so, why? It seems weirdly bottlenecked, I see people confused that their MSP doesn't "have a {phone_model}" and I'm bewildered by this.
Back in my original country, people buy phones like other gadgets from a tech shop mostly, usually outright, then separately they will buy a SIM card from an MSP store, which they then top up online or with an ATM type machine where you can top-up numbers with cash.
Usually your SIM will have a tariff, which will consume X money per SMS/minute/GB, and you can also use this cash mobile balance to pay online in many stores. There is usually not a cap on how much you can actually use MSP services, all data is effectively unlimited, you only pay as you use it, and you can also pre-pay to have unlimited data without charge for a certain time period. There isn't really any kind of monthly cycle, you just top up as you run out (hopefully before).
Carrier-locking is also not really a thing.
MSPs will often also sell you phones at their syores, but their selection is usually quite limited and mostly there for convenience. In the UK I do see tech shops carrying phones as well on display, but I've never actually met anyone IRL who acquired phones this way outright.
On the other hand online - people seem to just buy second hand off eBay, then get a separate SIM card, that's much more like what I'm used to, and what I myself do, but I don't know why this isn't more popular.
In the imperial core the "free phone every X months" gimmick (it's not free lol) works really well on their targets. I keep trying to convice people around me to just buy their own unlocked device because it's the same cost or better but they're kind of... addicted to an upgrade spiral.
I could never grasp the logic behind it. Well, they tried this locked carrier nonsense in India, and failed hard.
I switched from pre paid to monthly payments for comfort, I would run out of data because I’d forget to buy more.
I do buy my phone and sim separately though. The people that buy their phone from their internet provider probably do it because they want an expensive phone but can’t pay in 1 go. In the end they pay more though.