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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: 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.