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girlwhowaspluggedout writes:
"The European Commission reports that, fearing high roaming charges, many EU citizens forgo the use of their mobile phones outside their home country. According to a survey done by the Commission (pdf), when travelling to another EU country, 90% of all EU citizens limit their e-mail use, 47% do not use their mobile internet connection, 33% never place calls, 25% do not text, and a staggering 28% simply turn off their mobile phones.
Roaming charges, the Commission suggests, are hurting the fledgling EU app sector. In trying to avoid paying data premiums, travelers limit their use of data-heavy apps, like travel guides, maps, and photo applications. Frequent travelers are even more likely to turn-off their phones, perhaps due to being better informed about the costs of data roaming.
The Commission reports that data roaming use across the EU has increased by 1500% since the introduction of price caps in 2008. It suggests that by eliminating all roaming charges, mobile providers will gain a further 300 million customers. These findings give further support to regulations proposed by the Commission that will create a single mobile phone market throughout the EU, enabling all customers to enjoy domestic rates when travelling within the EU."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Tuesday February 18 2014, @11:20PM
I'm in Canada, and am still staggered at the wholesale robbery that the big three cel companies are allowed to foist on people. The wonders of unregulated commerce....
Certainly it's absurd to demand $25 for an increase of a gig or two on my data cap, but the one that really frosts my cake is the $8 a month extra charge for voicemail - as if that's some strange and exotic thing that no-one really would want.
What other industry works so hard to discourage people from buying and using their products?
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday February 18 2014, @11:35PM
Ummm... the content (movie/music/ebooks) industry?
The software industry [smh.com.au]?
(Score: 1) by chromas on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:25AM
If you think about it, it actually make sense for software. MS and Adobe want people to pirate their software and get hooked on it so their boss will buy it later or something (so saith the Internet). And what's the best way to get them to pirate?
⬆ Flawless logic
(Score: 1) by tftp on Tuesday February 18 2014, @11:44PM
Certainly it's absurd to demand $25 for an increase of a gig or two on my data cap
I have no data plan, since my cell phone is only used for maybe 3 minutes per month, for an occasional call when I am away from computers. (I rarely can be found in that situation.) AT&T insists that every smartphone has to have a data plan, so I refuse to buy a smartphone - even though I could use it with 802.11 networks which are all around me.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by kwerle on Wednesday February 19 2014, @12:33AM
Can't you just buy an unlocked smartphone and drop a sim card in that has no data plan? Won't that work?
(Score: 3, Informative) by tftp on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:05AM
No, it will not work. Had been tried by several people. As soon as AT&T sees the IMEI number [wikipedia.org] that resolves to a smartphone model, they automatically add the data plan, and charge you for that - and good luck cancelling that.
In fact, AT&T even sells simple phones that are marked as "no data plan required." Everything else requires the data plan. That's why I'm on a third Li-Ion battery for my old flip phone.
(Score: 1) by furiousoyster on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:01PM
Yeah, this really drives me up the wall. Sprint's dumb-phones are either poorly built, poorly designed, or both. I'm stuck with a Samsung m400 that's mostly fine but has a button on the side that, when pressed for a couple seconds, activates the voice command system. It can't be disabled. I regularly find myself in embarrassing situations when the voice in my pocket yells "SAY A COMMAND!"
I'd gladly pay more for a smartphone, but not an extra $360/year for data I don't want.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:14PM
I escaped Sprint in 2008, when I got another job and their phone couldn't work indoors. AT&T phones, and Verizon phones, worked OK. There was no contract, so I just jumped the ship. I got the LG CU515 at that time, and I still have it, 6 years later.
You are not alone in your troubles with the side button. My phone also has such a button, but for added advantage to AT&T it is preset to incur charges. If I press it, accidentally, it says "Press 1 to activate Push-to-Talk service." I cannot imagine why I would need it - and it's not a free service either. I seriously considered pouring glue into the gap around that button. (The only other function of that button is to silence the alarm, but I can use other buttons for that.)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by crutchy on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:00AM
you'll probably find that it's actually a huge amount of regulation that supports the existing monopolies that no doubt pay huge political campaign contributions to maintain the status quo.
remove monopoly-supporting regulations and you get competative startups (including from other countries)... not so good for monopolies.
the problem is that politicians wield too much power over markets... and they sell that power to the highest bidder. take away power from the politicians and they have nothing to sell, so the lobbyists lose their jobs and companies have to compete on a level playing field.
(Score: 1) by JediTrainer on Wednesday February 19 2014, @10:24AM
Certainly it's absurd to demand $25 for an increase of a gig or two on my data cap, but the one that really frosts my cake is the $8 a month extra charge for voicemail - as if that's some strange and exotic thing that no-one really would want.
Even more for Visual Voicemail. Or for Caller ID! WTF!
From one Canadian to another let me give you a tip if you travel to visit our US friends reasonably often and are sick of roaming charges and the Canadian telcos' BS travel plans. Get your phone unlocked and while you're down there drop by a T-Mobile store, get a sim card and sign up for the $2 pay by the day [t-mobile.com] plan. Unlimited calling within the US, and unlimited 2G data, which is sufficient for maps and the odd search for a phone number (yes I know. Go for the $3/day if you want 3G). I find that to be a far higher value than paying $1.50/min+ for a local call.
While you're at it sign up for Google Voice against that number, and now you can call family in Canada by initiating it through the GV site.
The account expires after 90 days of inactivity. I put $10 in every 2 months (the minimum deposit), which essentially gives me all the calling I need whenever I'm down there.
(Score: 1) by kbahey on Wednesday February 19 2014, @12:38PM
I am in Canada as well, and the whole North American market is screwed up monopolistic. First, there was the CDMA thing, and handsets not having a GSM card. Then it was GSM phones locked to the carrier to hinder customers from changing carriers.
There are also the contracts, which were 36 months, now down to 24 months, but they are a long term lock in.
And, spectrum fragmentation [baheyeldin.com], e.g. WIND has frequencies different from the big 3, therefore forming a barrier to customers moving. The industry association formed by the big carriers convincing the government that they are running out of spectrum ...
Even Citigroup questions the "rationale" of shortage in spectrum [baheyeldin.com].
All this contributes to the balkanization and monopoly [baheyeldin.com]
We had 3 newcomers to the market, WIND, PublicMobile, and Mobilicity. One was swallowed up by a bigger company, a second is in deep financial trouble and the third (WIND) stagnating.
And don't get me started on costs! Regular plans are $55 a month, and then you add data to that! Highway robbery.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning [2bits.com].