He must also claim at least partial responsibility for the carrier's net loss of customers in 2011, with a total of 802, 000 subscribers jumping ship in Q4 alone.
It is on the back of its about 80 million strong subscriber base that RIM has been able to continue generating cash through steady high-margin carrier fees despite reporting net losses for three quarters straight.
Last quarter, the second largest wireless carrier in China saw its net profits rise by almost 90% year-over-year as 3G revenues grew strongly and subsidies were reigned in by lower dependence on expensive smartphones such as the iPhone.
The net result: forget email service unless you use another carrier or WiFi to get to the Internet, which is available on most ships including Holland America Line.
Despite a saturated wireless market, where Verizon has added fewer postpaid subscribers y-o-y so far this year, the carrier managed to post its best quarter in terms of postpaid net adds in four years.
For many years net neutrality advocates have pushed for Internet service providers to be regulated in a common carrier-like fashion the way Ma Bell was regulated when it had a monopoly.
While the company still hopes to show net positive postpaid adds for the year after the phenomenal Apple iPhone 4S debut, the huge upfront subsidies that the carrier will have to offer its iPhone customers in exchange for a two-year contract will be a big detriment to its margins in the near-term.