Originally Posted by martin_r

If you are talking about a virtual phone hosted on a server then yes it exist, we are using voip.ms + a softphone app.

Thank you for replying, good to know. My question was not about VoIP though.

Originally Posted by MikeDVB

I don’t think they’re talking about VOIP services. Perhaps @casualvisitor will come back and clarify.

At a simple conceptual level, when we say hosting, we have computers/servers owned by hosting companies and rented out to businesses and individuals. Why is there no similar hosting service for phones?

From a consumer’s perspective, what you pointed out is true. You can install an app on your phone, you can run any responsive page on your phone.
The difference is, you own the phone.

What I am thinking of, is a hosting service where people can rent phones and devices out. Analogous to cloud hosting.

You already have companies offering testing services for phones (many of them actually use simulators, but still!) where you can use their infrastructure for a monthly price. So, this will be taking it to the next level.

Build an infrastructure of phones, rent them out. Let people use and pay.

Testing apps and web applications is a good use case, but I feel this will go far, far beyond that, if someone provides this.

Hope that made sense!