I don't think you are comparing like for like here. Apple is not just a phone producer who ships off the phones to the carrier to sell. They are much more a partner in this whole arrangement. For instance when you buy a phone you can either do it through an Apple Store or at an AT&T store. Therefore the cost of supporting multiple carriers for them is a lot more than say a Nokia.
Actually, for a Nokia, you can buy the phone directly from Nokia, you can even purchase an unlocked version of any of thier phones from them directly. The same cannot be said of Apple, yes you can buy the phone directly from them, but you are still locked in with AT&T.
I think that the U.S. needs to enact a bill of rights when it comes to cell phone users, I would prpose the following rules.
Not allowing cell phones to be locked to any carrier, ever, under any circumstances.
Not allowing phone carriers to require contracts to obtain a certain phone (although they could allow an incentive, such as a reduced rate with a contract).
Not allowing phone carriers to require a contract to obtain a certain plan. Not allowing phone carriers to charge an excessive early termination fee (the total early termination fee should be the cost of the subsidy - 50% of the cost of the plan paid for the plan to the date of cancellation and 100% of the overage fees paid up to that point., so for example if there is a $100 subsidy and you pay $40 per month and want to cancel at the end of the second month, you would have paid $80 in cell phone fees (not counting taxes), so you would receive a $40 credit towards that $100 subsidy that was paid, now lets say you paid an addition $30 in overage fees for those two months, you would now have a total of $70 credit, so your early termination fee would be $30.
Cell phone carriers should be required to prove their coverage for any particular address before a customer signs up. (T-Mobile does this already)
Cell phone carriers should be required to have a 30 day return policy (most do now, but some still don't) where they even eat the phone charges for that month.
Unlimited data plans mean unlimited data plans, including unlimited text, video and picture messages. Also allows tethering and anything else that the customer chooses to use the Unlimited data plans for. And no cap on bandwidth. (Ok, so these should be the rules for ISPs too).
Ok, aren't the cell phone companies glad that I am not making the laws?
So, how do you pay your taxes without your SSN? Or DO you? 
