[DavidVoid]

That was a fairly interesting article, thank you for linking it.

The parts about vendors having a great deal of insight into the networks is certainly true from my experience.

For example: I -- an outsourced software developer working for Ericsson here in Europe -- have insight into what software/hardware is deployed in Verizon and AT&T's networks in North America, as well as which of their nodes/radio units are having issues due to software/hardware problems.

Now Ericsson doesn't run and operate Verizon and AT&T's infrastructure, but Ericsson does have a great deal of insight into it via proactive log collection and similar initiatives.

If one of Verizon's radio units in Texas is having a lot of problems, then a software developer in Croatia might end up analyzing some log/crash dumps from it to see what's wrong with it, and then tell someone at Ericsson in Canada to tell Verizon that the unit should probably be replaced.