This is actually nothing more than a phone subsidy under a different name....people will still be getting their phones from the carrier...which is the real source of the problem. 

If they made a complete separation....the carrier not being responsible for providing a phone in any capacity whatever.....this would fix about 90% of the complaints people have about their carrier and would reduce the volume of customer service calls by an equal amount. 

Combining phones with service really was one of the dumbest ideas this industry ever came up with, except of course "discounting" phones to lure people into signing a contract. 

Unfortunately, if carriers stopped selling phones, you'd see a lot fewer people willing to shell out $500 for a smart phone, which means carriers would lose out on that sweet, sweet data revenue.  And since two major carriers are making their business about charging people more for less with data, that isn't going to happen. 

The reason why the phones are connected to the carrier is because carriers have different technologies and different frequencies.....therefore it is hard to know when a phone will be compatible with a particular network. 

The only way we could possibly disconnect phones from carriers is if all carriers were on the same frequency on had the same kind of network. 

Difference is not economy of scale, its like of retail alternatives.  You go into a Best Buy MSRP is $1899 for a TV, they retail it for $1399 and toss it onsale forn $1199.  With phones, its what the big four and the makers say what the MSRP is and they sell it for that or discount off that price as a subsidy.