France now has a free wireless network, and it's contract free. Will it ever happen in the US? Only if you use unlocked cell phones.

The French network is based on the distribution of boxes—phone boxes, cable boxes, etc.—to subsrcibers of the company, Free.fr, which act as wireless hubs usable by any cell phone made to work on the network.

Calls, texts, internet, TV—they all come in off the data lines, and with each new subscription, coverage grows, backed up by spectrum, when a local wireless box isn't available. Apple once had this plan for the iPhone, but it never came to fruition, the most they accomplished was distributing, and controlling the look and interaction of the phone across networks, a feat only accomplished on other phones by unlocking them (or buying already unlocked cell phones).

In fact, carrier competition in the US is so fierce, so guarded from such a cheap way of operating—one that gives the users more power, and a better experience, that most spectators of the industry would be shocked if such a thing were to happen. Even the giant Google hasn't managed to get a wireless network in place.

Unlocked cell phones are the only way—in the US—of undermining the phone companies. Why? Unlocked cell phones undo all the stock applications, the stupid carrier-specific restrictions, etc., that keep phones from being great. That keep great OSs, like Android, from being able to update.

Even if you don't want unlocked cell phones, you're happy with the random apps taking up space, or the restriction of updates—spite them just a little. Scrape off their branding.