Text 31865, 135 rader
Skriven 2009-04-28 15:35:07 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 31834 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Message prices
======================
27 Apr 09 08:29, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB> Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Sunday April 26 2009 at 12:40:

 WD>>>>> Cellphone use in Belgium is the most expensive in the world. I
 WD>>>>> decline to use it when I don't have to.

 RW>>>> Over 20 cents each?

 RB>>> Twenty cents per what?

 RW>> Message! That's what he was discussing before you jumped to
 RW>> conclusions and wrote;

 RB>>>  Minute? And cents Euro or cents Dollar?

 RB> I read what you quoted, not what you didn't quote.

You should have read what Ward wrote...then you'd be up to the
conversation.

 RB>  And "cellphone use" is definitely NOT restricted to SMS (text)
 RB> messages. People generally talk on a phone.

No shit, Little Beaver.

 RB> So as I now understand it, YOU are talking about SMS messages and not
 RB> regular phone calls.

I know it's tough to catch on to this stuff, Bobby, but do try to keep up.

 RB>>> After answering that, you have to dig deeper and ask "with a
 RB>>> contract or prepaid"?

 RW>> Both are the same price.

 RB> Maybe where you live. Not in Germany. As for Belgium, Ward would have
 RB> to answer that one.

LOL!

 RB>>> And follow up, if prepaid, with "how old", since the rates for
 RB>>> prepaid SIMs in cellphones have been dropping precipitously in the
 RB>>> last few years, at least in Germany - BUT old SIMs still run at the
 RB>>> original rate, i.e. (much) higher than new ones.

 RW>> LOL! You guys sure have a screwed up system. Messaging here can go
 RW>> several ways. You can do a few messages per month for 20 cents each
 RW>> or you can sign up for unlimited text messaging for $4.99/month.

 RB> We have similar systems here in Germany, but pay much less for the
 RB> SMS - the present rate in prepaid SIMS runs EUR 0.09 or around $0.12
 RB> per SMS.

 RW>> I had a SIM that was issued to me by AT&T when I switched from
 RW>> Verizon in 2004. I carried the same phone number from carrier to
 RW>> carrier and it didn't cost a cent.

 RB> Different countries, different rules.

Different carriers, different rules. Unless Germany has specific laws that
make the carriers there the odd man out.

 RB> Michiel already noted that porting of numbers is free in the
 RB> Netherlands.

 RB>>> The whole thing gets very complex when you also try to add the
 RB>>> non-GSM phones in the States and Canada plus the GSM phones whose
 RB>>> owners have a contract with the provider (rates different than
 RB>>> prepaid, but extra conditions) - very hard to make meaningful
 RB>>> comparisons.

 RW>> I'm glad I don't have to live with such a complex system.

 RB> Instead, you just pay (for SMS) around twice what we do in Germany.
 RB> We used to have that kind of system too, before the discounters got
 RB> to work.

How does 'unlimited' SMS text messaging for $5/mo equate to twice what you
pay?

 RW>> I have one of AT&T's prepaid phones that I take along on trips in
 RW>> case of failures. That happened to me while visiting up north and
 RW>> had to buy it to replace my regular phone until I got home. Instead
 RW>> of buying prepaid minutes though, I just replaced that phones SIM
 RW>> with mine.

 RB> Now you're no longer talking about SMS messages, but voice
 RB> transmissions.

LOL! SUBJECT CHANGE ALERT! BOB NEEDS ROADSIGNS TO TELL HIM THE SUBJECT HAS
BEEN CHANGED!

 RB> At any rate, this is also the kind of thing we have here - assuming
 RB> no SIM lock on the (subsidized) phone to force you to use a specific
 RB> provider,

Most phones can be 'unlocked' to work on more than one provider's system.
The only thing you need then is a SIM from the carrier of choice.

 RB> you can put any SIM you like into a different phone and nothing
 RB> (except possibly the menus) will change.

I have a Motorola V3 that was set to the Italian language when I got it.
The menus are much different from the subsequent V3s I've purchased since
that one. Even the SMS 'Quick Note' text is written in Italian.

 RB> Only one difference here: you don't buy "prepaid minutes" for a SIM,
 RB> but "load" it with a certain amount of money (EUR 10, 15, and 30
 RB> being common) using a code you buy from a store or vending machine.

Which is 'written' onto a mag strip on the back of a credit card type of
card.

 RB> Then the rate of your provider for the specific SIM governs how long
 RB> you can talk for that amount of money. Older SIMs have, as I
 RB> mentioned, higher rates than the newer ones. The only thing
 RB> preventing mass switchover to newer (cheaper) rates in Germany is the
 RB> cost and difficulty of porting a cellphone number to another
 RB> provider.

The pay-as-you-go (PAYG) Motorola I bought didn't get a chance to be used
as a PAYG phone. It was put into service on my existing account SIM card.

To program it for PAYG, it's PAYG SIM has to be activated by the provider
and then you have to call the phone number on the 'minutes' card you buy
and the phone gets programmed over the air. I've never done this, however.

                R\%/itt




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