Apple has revealed a new promotional material that lets its users have the ability to switch between major mobile carriers for their data plans. Apple will now ship out in their new iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 a built-in sim card that allows users to purchase wireless service on the spot. Previous ipads have always had the ability to let you hop between carriers just by swapping out the sim card; however, Apple has simplified this process further with one sim card that lets you hop onto whichever carriers is listed on their iOS. These carriers include AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the U.S., and EE in the U.K. Apple does plan to expand the list of global carriers in the future. Why does this matter? Well I think this really takes the carriers out of the retail loop and makes it easier for Apple users to be able to switch seamlessly between the three major U.S. carriers for on the go data plans. It makes the carriers a lot closer to the interchangeable pipes that they’re afraid of seeing because it effectively lessens the powers of the mobile carriers since they rely on their control of the retail sales and service channels to prevent customers from switchovers and to be able to upsell additional products. Interestingly enough, Verizon has opted out of this new Apple sim so far, which shows the disproportionate strength of Verizon in our market as compared to the other three carriers. Verizon thinks that they have enough market power to tell Apple what to do