Text 8296, 58 rader
Skriven 2010-06-07 15:50:33 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: Cellphones
==================
Hello Dale,

On Monday June 07 2010 00:03, you wrote to me:

 DS> Here there used to be a lot of pay phones around.  Cost ten cents,
 DS> then later cost 25 cents.

IIRC here it was 25 cents (Guilders) for a local call. Long distance calls were
metered, you had to keep feeding them coins.

 DS> Most of them have been taken out now. There got to be a lot of problem
 DS> with them being used for drug deals and with them being vandalized.
 DS> Now the drug dealers just use throw away pre-paid cell phones.

Here they have almost disappeared as well, but for a different reason.
Vandalism was a small problem, which became an even smaller problem when they
switched from coins to telephone cards in the eighties. I have never heard of
drug related problems. What may have something to do with that is that Dutch
public pay phones were never callable. The old coin type was technically
capable of being called, but the numbers were a closely guarded secret. The
newer electronic models that accepted cards had an internal modem and that was
what you got when you dialled its number. Or so I am told, I never had the
opportunity to check it out. Never managed to find a number.

The reason that public pay phones have almost disappeared here is that now that
almost everyone has a cell phone, there is little or no need for them any more
and now that they are hardly used, the cost of maintenance exceeds the revenue.
The old incumbant (KPN) is still legally required to maintain a minimum number
in operation, so there must be some around, but I would not know were to find
one in this village. Probably there is one at the post office. Now wait, there
is no post office any more, that too is a thing of the past...

About these phone cards; they have been out of use for quit some time, now the
pay phones accept credtit cards and the bank cards for general use. But these
dedicated phone cards came with all kinds of different pictures. There were
memorial cards for special events etc, etc. And so, just like post stamps, they
became collector's items. Ever so often you will find collectors trading them
at fairs, etc, etc.

 DS>>>  and only costs me about $95 per year.

 MVDV>>> Mine costs me less than EUR 20 a year.

 DS> Is that EUR 20 per year your total cost, for all the calls you make?

That is the total cost for all calls. There is no monthly fee. Also there are
no free minutes. I buy EUR 10 credit and when I make a call the meter starts
running down. When it drops below EUR 5, I buy another EUR 10 credit. If not
used, the credit remains valid indefenitely. I only have to use the phone once
every six month. outgoing, incoming. voice, SMS. it does not matter. Even a
(free) call to the number to check my balance is good enough. If I do not use
at all it in six month, I lose the number and the balance.


Cheers, Michiel

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