That, clearly, means that the airtime provider must subsidise that initial purchase and then recover its subsidy over the life of the contract.

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And there are times and places when it depends upon the airtime provider not the handset manufacturer (indeed, times when you need both, not just one or the other).

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The problem for the network operator (or airtime provider, whichever you prefer) is that they have to provide a subsidy to the consumer in order to get them using an iPhone.

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