Owen, You should also mention that
1. Even if you have a GSM phone, unless you either pay a high price for an unlocked phone, have a Blackberry or are aware of the issue and find out how to unlock your phone, you are in danger of being hit with enormous roaming charges when you go to another country. Unless you have an unlocked phone, you won't be able to use a low cost SIM card that you purchase when you land or order over the web. 2. Data charges in Europe are outrageous even if you have some sort of plan. Having wifi on your phone can save you. Universal standards and regulations don't necessarily protect you from predatory charges from the carriers. Ed __________ Ed Angel Chair, Board of Directors, Santa Fe Complex Founding Director, Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory (ARTS Lab) Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, University of New Mexico 1017 Sierra Pinon Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-984-0136 (home) [email protected] 505-453-4944 (cell) http://www.cs.unm.edu/~angel http://artslab.unm.edu http://sfcomplex.org On Aug 2, 2011, at 8:43 PM, Owen Densmore wrote: > But you have to understand several things to understand why most americans > understand very little about celular telecom: > > 1 - Probably 80% of Friam does not understand the difference between GSM and > CDMA, the two major celular protocols in the US. And that they do not > interoperate. I've explained to at least 50 people why their Verizon phone > will not work in Rome. > > 2 - "Mobile" means for americans "within 20 miles". Certainly not global. > > 3 - Coverage maps. I remember trying to tell an Italian about that concept. > I failed utterly. It is why most folks in Santa Fe will never use GSM. I'm > odd, I use GSM because I travel and won't tolerate the wreck produced by our > telecom world. Color me "moral". > > 4 - Roaming: In most GSM areas, Roaming is required by law and is strongly > enforced outside the US. Here, if you are a TMobile GSM customer wandering > into a ATT area, you definitely will NOT get roaming services. > > 5 - "Regulatory" is a dirty word. Free markets cannot handle it. > > 6 - Costs: I know of few celular user who understands the cost differences > between carriers. Here, TMobile (Deutsche Telekom) gives 20% cheaper costs, > and allows contract-free services that are very inexpensive, and handles SMS > and voice. They even offer very inexpensive phones for SMS/Voice. > > 7 - History: The french created GSM and lobbied very strongly for its > universal adoption. We have "states" that have far less power, thus are lead > by the corporate giants, far larger in income than the states. So chaos is > welcomed, to our woe. > > I could go on. Its a wreck. But because it is too hard for most folks to > understand, thus cry out in pain, we are but pawns in the game. It is a > deeply painful thing to be a US citizen who understands tech from the bottom > up. > > -- Owen > > On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 7:29 PM, Sarbajit Roy <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > I'm hugely amazed by your post. Being involved in telecom regulatory matters > (as a citizen stakeholder) in my country. I'm surprised that consumers in > yours tolerate such nonsense. > > Just to provide some reference points > > In India: The average postpaid mobile commitment cost is about US$3 per month > (which is instantly refunded with equivalent talk time). For prepaid it gets > even better with zero (0) commitment and bonus talk times for every balance > top-up. Call costs are about 1 CENT (US) per MINUTE to call anywhere within > my vast country (ie. for about 1 US$ I can speak for 1 hour) All incoming > calls are free. We have per second billing. At regulatory hearings I > participate in, my fellow consumers are always griping that there are > allegedly other countries in the world where mobile telephony is even cheaper. > > PS: We can buy any handset from te open market and the telco's vie with each > other to connect us free (or a very nominal) charge > > Sarbajit > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
