Hi Owen, I have both CDMA & GSM, and I can travel throughout my country and roam seamlessly (but not interoperatorably) at under 1 cent per minute. I dont have to change my operators in almost 90% of the country. At any well covered location my (GSM) handset can usually detect about 5 or 6 operators. In New Delhi we have 12 operators (all vying in our free - and excessively regulated - environment to get me to switch to their networks - and offering plans "guaranteed" to give me 25 cents per hour calling rates for "lifetime" (ie. as long as their company is in business). So if Regulation is bad I wonder why phone costs are so expensive in the land of the free.
PS: I know fairly well the pitfalls of a free gmail but dont give a damn. Sarbajit On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 8:13 AM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]> 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
