I read all those horror stories about US carriers. Here in Poland my gf bought an Android and:
+ alternative markets option was on
+ no google apps at all (umm, maybe youtube was there), no gmail account setup, etc.
- some map/satnav crapware but nothing standing in the way
So... not everywhere in the world carriers are monopolized by GOOG. (and I'm not saying that maybe we dont' have some carriers who put google setup by default, I don't know)
+ alternative markets option was on
+ no google apps at all (umm, maybe youtube was there), no gmail account setup, etc.
- some map/satnav crapware but nothing standing in the way
So... not everywhere in the world carriers are monopolized by GOOG. (and I'm not saying that maybe we dont' have some carriers who put google setup by default, I don't know)