have you heard of licensing for chip technologies? maybe from qualcomm?

the reason apple doesnt pay carriers is that the market has changed and handset makers have more power. also phones work on wifi too ;)

You jest, but AT&T co-invented the first practical implementation of what would become Wi-fi (i.e. WaveLAN). There's probably some agreement between Qualcomm and AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, or whatever holding company retains the rights these days.