Mobile operators will lose voice services to mobile platforms — Mobile Technology News

Imagine buying your SIM-free mobile phone from a local electronics store, logging in as soon as you turn the phone on for the first time and having the phone ready to use immediately. In the future, even the phone number itself will disappear.

Mobile carriers are really becoming the dumb pipe.  I no longer need the carrier to give me a phone number - I can get the number from Google or Skype.    With 4G coming the carrier becomes even less important as the voice provider.   Hey, Skype works pretty good on 3G.   
The carriers worst fears have come true, we just need them to provide a data pipe.