Less phone, please

When I bought my last cell phone I was looking for 1) reception, 2) battery life, 3) ease-of-use, in that order. I ended up with a colour Nokia that can surf the internet, and would gladly trade it for a black and white, non internet enabled phone with as good reception if such a phone existed. But it doesn't, so I'm stuck with more phone than I really want.

It seems that I am not the only one. In Europe, where cell phone competition is much fiercer, one company seems to have made dramatic inroads by offering cheap, simple, cellular telephony. Sign me up.

Doing this required 1) competition in the handset market and 2) the ability to buy cellular service wholesale and resell it retail. I beleive that Sprint offers wireless connectivity wholesale in the US and would be interested in seeing a similar company here.

Update My old buddy Stumbling Tongue let's me know that the UK may start enjoying less phone soon.