Yesterday, Google announced Nexus One. It is truly great phone; I have been using mine for almost a month and I'm more than happy. All other phones, including iPhone 3GS, feel very slow in comparison. Though I won't go into detail about features - I suggest to check out review on TechCrunch.

More interesting for me is that Google is tackling the issue of cellphone contracts. Nexus One is being sold only unlocked; you can get the discount on the phone price if you sign up for 2 year contract, but you will still be free to use you phone wherever you want.

Most cellular operators try to do their best to acquire new customers and tie them to long-term contracts. In US and many Western countries, they found a venue to do this: subsidized phones. The operator buys the phone for $600, sells it to you for $200 - it pays you $400 indirectly - for the pledge that you will pay them $2800 over two years (prices taken from AT&T/iPhone). Sure, it's a great deal for operators, and in many cases good deal for customers (though not with Nexus One). There are two big problems, though.

First: even though you, as a customer, realize that operator will be willing to pay several hundred for you to become their customer, you are severely limited in receiving this bonus; you have to choose among the phones on their shelves. I wonder why; I guess many people would be happy to lock themselves in for 2 years in exchange for hard cash (though I personally would prefer contract freedom). So if you choose the phone which your operator doesn't sell (which in my case was almost always the case during last ~7 years), operator keeps your bonus.

Second: if you are lucky enough to have your phone of choice offered by your operator of choice, you will get it with insult included - simlock. Selling simlocked phones is completely pointless - it doesn't affect the monthly bill, which is to be paid for X years anyway (unless ETF is paid). It is annoying and very limiting for the customer, and can become expensive if he travels (he'll have to pay roaming or buy a new phone abroad). It is insulting, since selling simlocked subsidized phones every 2 years suggests that I can get along with the same phone for 2 years (since it will be quite difficult to sell).

I have never bought simlocked phones. I don't think I've ever used one phone for longer than a year. And before coming to Switzerland, I have just heard something about operators being nasty, but didn't experience it first hand. You know, with all grand difference in economics and market between Switzerland and Belarus there is one area where Belarus is miles ahead - cellphone contracts.

In Belarus, you sign unlimited contract which you can cancel anytime without any ETF. There is minimum monthly payment for the service, but you are free to stop paying whenever you want, and cell operator will just stop the service after some time; and if you resume paying, they resume the service. In fact, I am still under contract on Velcom in Belarus (I visit Belarus for a few days every several months); every time I leave the country, several days/weeks later enough unpaid debt accumulates so they turn off the service for me (and they stop counting, so I don't pay for the time out of service); and when I arrive next time, I pay off the debt and the service resumes immediately.

In Switzerland, the situation is bad. It's in fact even worse than in the US. You can only sign yearly renewing contract; it means, you have to stay with operator for 12 months or you get to pay high ETF. And next year, it automatically renews for 12 more months, unless you cancelled it in writing at most 60 days before first year ends. How nice is it, huh? You still can get your "bonus" in form of simlocked discounted phone, though. Or you can go to prepaid, but there is not a single prepaid plan in Switzerland with data included or affordable. And there is no competition, since all three mobile operators behave the same.

I really hope that Nexus One and subsequent phones will improve things. If data-hungry phones will be sold unlocked, the operators will have the incentive to provide either nice prepaids with data or flexible contracts to lure the customers. And if the best phones will be sold unlocked, it should give incentive to other phone manufacturers to push for "never-to-be-simlocked" models.

And we can dream of the better world (hopefully in a few years), when the phones are never simlocked, you are free to switch cell operators whenever you want, and operators reward you for loyalty instead of paying you for privilege to handcuff you.