Text 11435, 103 rader
Skriven 2005-08-05 13:07:00 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
  Kommentar till text 11408 av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
Ärende: Cell phone cost
=======================
Hello Ross,

 > On the flip side, most providers sell the plans with the
 > phone, for instance my Motorola V400 camera phone was sold to
 > me by Cingular at a discount, in exchange, I am under a 2 year
 > contract with them,

Yes, they do that here too. The "discount" on the phone can go up to 100%. I
think the contract length is limited to three years maximum by law, but I am
not sure.

 > got less than a year left.. Afterwards I can continue the
 > monthly plan or upgrade the phone, I will probably upgrade
 > next spring to one of them Motorola Razr phones.

I find these package deals unattractive. It is just a trick to keep yo for at
least the duration of the contract. All in all you pay more than when you just
by a phone and a SIM only contract.

 > If someone isnt after a real flashy phone, they can even get
 > one for free in exchange for a one to two year contract.

That may be interesting for someone who wants the latest and the greatest. I am
not one of those, I don't need all the new gadgets, I just want a phone so I
can call and be called.

 > Now the downside is that if they dont fullfill the contract,
 > there is a hefty early termination fee, but to maintain the
 > contract, all one has to do is maintain service. However no
 > one is doing any arm twisting, no one should commit to a
 > arrangement if they cant fullfill the obligations..

Over here parent/guardian consent is required for minors if they want such a
contract.

 MV>> The number of people that do not have a fixed line any more
 MV>> is growing however. Especially among the younger generation.
 MV>> For them these "bundles" are attractive.

 > Yes many are doing that here.

But is is more expensive isn't it?

 MV>> Indeed. And these outrageous roaming fees annoy the European
 MV>> Commission. They keep saying they should go down as they are a stand
 MV>> in the way for European integration. But it seems they are unable to
 MV>> do something about it. Free enterprise and all that...

 > Well if a European Citizen is using Vodafone for instance,
 > Vodafone cannot guarantee that one of its customers are going
 > to always be wandering around in a network they administer,

Vodaphone Europe is not one network or even one company. There is Vodaphone
Netherlands, Vodaphone UK, etc, etc.

Most of them didn't start out as Vodaphone either. Vodaphone NL came into being
by them buying out Libertel, an independant operator.

 > so they have agreements with other companies and there are fee's
 > involved when this happens.

That's what they say, but the same applies to calls made via landlines. Same
providers, same lines. So why must these fees be so much higher for mobile?

 MV>> A cell phone call within the The Netherlands is some 20
 MV>> cents/minute. Calling from my fixed line to most destinations
 MV>> in Europe is some 10 cents a minute. So why does an
 MV>> international cell phone call have to cost between five and
 MV>> ten times the sum of a local cell phone call and a fixed
 MV>> line international call?

 > Good question..

The providers see an opportunity to rip us off and get away with it.

 > On landline phones here, in state LD used to cost more than
 > out of state calls..

Same here. Cross an administrative boundery and the price went up...

 MV>> We are being ripped off by the telecoms and they don't even bother to
 MV>> deny it. One would expect competition to bring the fees down to more
 MV>> realistic values, but for some reason that does not work.

Well, as you may have gleened from another message, Vodaphone seems to have
initiated the battle. They now offer some special rate if the call is made
through one of their "peer" networks.

I think it still is a rip off but it is substantially cheaper than it used to
be. So I wonder what the competetion will do now.

 > This is why I choose to have a calling plan, I may not use or
 > ever use the minutes I have, I aint a chatterbox, but better
 > to have a plan than the hassle of per minute charges as you
 > describe.

What hassle? At the end of the month I get the bill for the calls and the
amount is automatically deducted from my bank account.

Cheers, Michiel

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