Who owns your phone?
There’s an interesting discussion going on on the European Nokia Consumer Forums. People are angry that the ‘Internet Telephone’ application, that is usually part of the S60 system software, has been removed from the phone by Vodafone and Orange.
This raises the question as to who owns the phone (or more correctly who has the right to say what goes on the phone) when it’s subsidised as part of a network operator contract.
O2 and T-Mobile phones are reported to include the ‘Internet Telephone’ application. Also, it’s possible to buy a generic unbranded phone and insert your Vodafone or Orange SIM. So people do have a choice - however, it’s a bit unfair that the first time you will realise the limitation is when you first try to find and use the application. As an aside, T-Mobile restrict VOIP another way - by banning it in the terms and conditions of all of the Web n Walk tariffs except the ‘Max’ plan.
It’s not the first time that network operators have been seen to coerce users into using specific services. For example, 3 used to sell lots of ‘Internet’ capable phones that couldn’t browse further than the 3’s own portal. Market forces prevailed and 3 has now done a complete U-turn and now actively promotes off-portal access. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vodafone actively selling VOIP in a few years time.
Incidentally, if you are technically inclined and are willing to take the risk, it’s possible to re-flash these phones to a generic version of the OS.