Regulators in Netherlands this week opened the door for any company — whether Apple, Audi or your local electric utility — to issue its own SIM cards configured to no particular carrier. This is just one country changing its rules, but if other countries follow suit, it could have big implications for the internet of things and even change the way we buy mobile service.

A few years ago in a Gigaom post, European economist and policy analyst Rudolf van der Berg explained how such a setup could work for Apple(s aap) if it chose to shed the carrier yoke and sell connectivity directly to its iPhone customers. Basically Apple would provide SIM cards to all of its customers, and then remotely assign them different carrier networks as customers activated their service.

Source: Flickr / mroach

Apple could buy data and voice services in bulk from hundreds of…