The touch keyboard lacks feedback but folds to zero size, which is its great advantage. And people are in practice getting along just fine with them, which is why the hardware keyboards have fallen by the wayside.
The main obstacle to boot-your-own-phone in the US is of course the carriers.
Within telecom pricing strategy? Yes, given current technology.
One can go back in the lit to Bell Labs research in the 60s for all the pricing strategies. Jean Tirole fleshed most of it out with help by Jean Rochet.
Source: Economist, network industries are my object of research
The main obstacle to boot-your-own-phone in the US is of course the carriers.