Oh, I certainly agree that telcos don't like VoIP because it hurts their core business, that's just plain obvious. I just wanted to explain that there are other, less obvious reasons.

I contributed to your ItT Data plans Wiki entry, but, frankly, there are about 50 different data plans available in Germany and they change almost every month. There are 4 networks and further resellers, you can different plans depending wether they are tied to a single device or not, tied to the operator portal, usable only around your home, all over Germany or include usage in foreign countries. There are plans by byte, by minute, with and without monthly charge, with and (rarely) without minimal duration... If I put them all (which I am not going to do, understandably), the wiki will more than double...

24/7 Internet connectivity a small device has been offered here for at least 3 years, but it depends what you call "Internet connectivity". Devices similar to the sidekick allow web browsing, but through a proxy, so that data usage is kept relatively low. Heck, even on the laptop plans you usually have a transparent proxy which will recompress pictures (you can request the original by clicking on the picture).

BTW: even Symbian phones allow 24/7 Internet connectivity. My E51 is configured to check my e-mail regularly, and allows sip as well. It has a quite usable browser. I use it to listen to Internet radio stations, etc... Internet connectivity was not the "revolutionary" part of the 770, the fact that it ran linux and thus was an open device was.

"Its unwise to not read your contract before you sign it"

Oh..., yes. Certainly. And have it reread by an army of lawyers if you can...

"There are also ways to work around a SIP ban"

There are ways to work around any ban on the Internet. I sure know... (In practice just trying non standard ports is usually sufficient.)