"This industry blows," t-mobile ceo John Legere announced on Jan. 8 at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). That might seem like an odd statement from the leader of the fourth largest wireless carrier in the U.S., but it's also-from a consumer standpoint-an accurate one. For a decade, the U.S. wireless business has used the same basic model: carriers entice customers with heavily discounted phones, then hook them with two-year service contracts and sky-high termination fees (as much as $350 for a new iPhone with Verizon) so they can't easily switch if a better deal appears elsewhere. And although carriers battled one another to build superior networks and gain exclusive access to popular phones, they didn't challenge the fundamentals of the business. The profit margins were too lush.
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