You need spectrum. Those with spectrum have all the power and can do essentially whatever they want. The FCC could step in and regulate this or that but I wouldn't count on that happening too soon.

This is why it's a shame that Google didn't go for a win in the wireless spectrum last year. $5 bn would have been worth it and put Android on a whole other level, IMHO. Maybe they were worried about anti-trust scrutiny.

Relatedly, how is it that cell phone companies screw their customers at every turn and still have single-digit profit margins? Given the amount of malice we perceive in them (and they make me as angry as the next guy), you'd think they were making far more.