> dumping of retail price with the purpose of locking in users - a blatantly anticompetitive practice that would be illegal in most industries

What? There are scores of industries that use loss-leaders to get customers to commit to long-term contracts. Razors, satellite/cable TV, etc.

> This doesn't happen in places like the US because there's a very strong cartel/oligopoly there that affords them the right to simply deny you a terminal if it's not under the carrier's conditions.

This isn't true at all, and I don't know why you would think it was. Here's a counterexample: https://ting.com/