I hate cell phones. I own one, but am definitely not happy with it. I think that "cell" is a really descriptive term because once you buy one you are "locked in" to a contract with one provider, which can feel like prison. If you do, however, manage to get out of your contract, you can't take your phone to another provider and have it work. Or alternatively, if you find a phone you really like you can't use it with your provider. This is competition but it is hardly choice.
Here's our situation. We decided last year to get a cell phone, mostly for emergency use, so we were looking for a cheaper plan. All the providers offered basically the same thing, x number of minutes, with evening or weekends or both unlimited, with only slight variations in cost. We heard that Telus had the better coverage so that was the carrier we chose. We, and by "we" I mean "me", decided to buy the most expensive phone, a flip phone with color display and downloadable ringtones and backgrounds. My motivation was that if we were going to have the phone for a while then we might as well get the best one so we wouldn't be wishing we had gotten a better one after a year or so.
Well, now it seems that Rogers/ AT&T now offer a plan that is more to our liking but because we have 2 years left on our contract we are totally unable to switch unless we are willing to pay a $480 fee for canceling our contract. Which, first of all, is not going to happen and secondly, even if we could afford to pay it we would still be stuck with a phone that won't work with any other carrier. We went to Telus to ask if they had any plans like the one Rogers offers and their answer was "No", and "We don't think it's a very good deal, anyway".
So, it seems to me like the cell phone industry isn't really competitive. They don't have to be. Once you buy a phone your theirs. You don't own a phone, they own you. I liken it to buying a car from Chevron and only being able to put Chevron gas in it. Oh, there's lots of gas stations out there but their gas won't work in your car. So your stuck buying Chevron gas until you buy a new car. Could you imagine that situation? People would be outraged. I don't know how the cell phone industry duped people into accepting this arrangement.