Hi, Here in Ireland there are so many tariffs, it is difficult to calculate the actual cost of a call, and the communications regulator (ComReg) provides a website with independent advice and a calculator function to help individuals to make a choice. (www.callcosts.ie) This may be why 75% of us are pre-pay - it's one sure way to control your costs, even if each call is more expensive than post-pay.
ComReg also publish the ARPU (average revenue per user) for 15 European countries in their quarterly reports (see page 35 in the latest issue: www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0717R.pdf). This is the closest I have found to a direct comparison of countries, and in the report they explain the source of their data. These figures show the Irish as the biggest spenders, averaging 44.80 euros per month, more than twice that for the Germans who spend least. When challenged, the providers say this is because we talk more (!!!), but they don't provide details of the average talk minutes per country, so it's hard to tell if that's the reason or it's that each minute actually costs more. Of course, like most European countries, we pay for the calls we make, not those we receive (unless "roaming" in another country). Pat Byrne, Galway, Ireland On Jun 4, 6:47 am, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello all, > > I have heard different estimates and comparisons of calling in the US > and in, for example, Europe. I have heard that it is cheaper to use a > mobile phone in the US but I am wondering about how the cost is > calculated. > > In the US, you buy a "bucket" of for example 1000 minutes. These cost, > for example $50 per month (I am not sure about the actual prices). In > this example the cost per minute is 5 cents a minute. However, when > people call into your number you use up minutes. Assuming that you make > and receive about an equal number of minutes, this would say that the > real price for calls that you make is 10 cents per minute. In addition, > unused minutes often revert to the operator. If you only use 700 > minutes, then you are in effect paying 30% more since you have to pay > for all 1000 minutes. Thus, if my math is correct, you are up to 13 > cents per minute in this example. > > The issue of free weekends and evenings also plays into the equation in > some way. > > By the same token, in Europe, there is often a flat rate and some sort > of use tariff. This varies by operator and by subscription type. > > It would be interesting to see if there was some sort of direct > comparison of the cost of calling in different places around the world. > > Rich L. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mobile-society" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mobile-society?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
