That's also my assumption.
In Europe carriers typically have much less to say. In some countries many people have SIM-only contracts and buy their own unlocked phones from a third party.
In Europe carriers typically have much less to say. In some countries many people have SIM-only contracts and buy their own unlocked phones from a third party.
If they had any sort of functioning government oversight over the telecoms, that shouldn't be legal.
I would argue this is the norm in most of Europe, not just "some countries".
Only where the telcom business have gone completely unregulated for too long, have the USesque system of carriers controlling phones taken hold.