Amen. They need to present entry into the operator market as a credible threat to make things happen, but they won’t if they don’t absolutely have to (would drag them down in a big way).

Google’s perfect solution would be for all operators to offer open-platform devices, so they could run all their apps on them. They will try every option to get them there – partner with Clearwire/Sprint over WiMax, bid with Verizon on 700MHz, subsidize T-Mobile rollout of femtocells, etc.

In any case, this will be fun to watch.