Eu Commission Has Dental Problems

[andy]

"The European Commission (EC) has watered down plans to force mobile operators in Europe to slash the cost of using a mobile phone abroad. "

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/14/eu_roaming/

[snaimon]

Just like here in the good ol' USA..... Government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations.

NATO.... no action, talk only.

Stan

[DRNewcomb]

I've said it before, governments bluster and make noise; consumer groups nip at the corporations' heals, but what they really respect is competition. When roaming rates are reduced, it will be because the consumers are better informed about the competitive alternatives (that's where we come into the game).

[snaimon]

As I noted elswhere.... we are fighting an uphill battle. Is it 1 B GSM users worldwide... Most of whom (well Verizon customers won't have much luck) will take their native cells with them when they travel and PAY THRU THE NOSE.

How many members do we have here of the forum? What percent is that of the 1 B GSM users?

The providers just love it!

Stan

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by snaimon

How many members do we have here of the forum? What percent is that of the 1 B GSM users?

There are also some people who don't care about the money and those you will never be able to help. When I described some of my techniques for saving on communications, one friend asked, "That's not legal, is it?" He just assumed that if you weren't paying AT&T $2+ per minute, it must be illegal. :wacko:

[snaimon]

It is sad, but possibly human nature. People are sometimes not willing to learn or change, even when it is in their own best interest.

If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.

Stan

[snaimon]

Teltarif wrote an editorial today lame the wrong actions of the EU commission on reducing roaming rates. Lead sentence also lamented lack of competition in the telcom industry/roaming.

Personally, I think there is plenty of competition with UM, TravelSIM, 09, etc. Below my response in German. Basically I say that until the European consumer yanks his national SIM card and replaces it with another ---- thereby depriving the nationals of their roaming income, until that happens, they can't expect any changes.

http://www.teltarif.de/forum/s22030/2-1.html

I put in a plug for this site, too.

As I have written elsewhere, I think most people are just creatures of habit and not willing to try something new. Gasp, you would have to retrieve your national mobile voicemail from a landline phone using an international calling card! How intolerable!
I find that teltarif does not give international SIM cards the credit they deserve. Now it is true that the entry fee is somewhat high and the home networks are a bit odd. Nonetheless, if someone must reach you, for business or in an emergency, they will probably call you.



Stan

[snaimon]

http://www.teltarif.de/forum/s22030/2-2.html

Here the reply from teltarif.......

Wir hatten ?ber einige dieser Firmen bereits berichtet. Leider gibt es jedoch immer wieder zahlreiche Probleme:

* Rufnummern von United Mobile sind allgemein schlecht erreichbar
* Ein deutscher Re-Seller von United Mobile ist gerade dabei, die Kunden von United Mobile auf einen anderen Anbieter zu migrieren, wohl wegen ?rger zwischen United Mobile und dem Reseller
* Ich kenne noch keinen Roaming-Discounter, der deutsche Rufnummern vergibt. Mit einer ausl?ndischen Nummer werden aber gerade Anrufe von einem beliebigen Handy zur Roaming-SIM exorbitant teuer.
* Andere Websites von Roaming-Discountern - etwa www.09.is - erwecken in mir nicht einmal genug Vertrauen, um ?ber diese ?berhaupt zu berichten. Ich habe noch nicht einmal Preise finden k?nnen.

Wenn durch geeignete regulatorische Ma?nahmen die Roaming-Discounter ?ber gesicherte Einkaufsma?nahmen bei den Netzbetreibern verf?gen, DANN werden auch f?r deutsche Verbraucher attraktive und einfach nutzbare Angebote auftauchen, und DANN wird der Markt auch stark fallende Preise sehen.


Kai

============= my translation of key parts:

BASICALLY, UM #s are hard to reach -- one German reseller is in the process of migrating customers from UM to someone else -- NO Germany #s available from any of these -- calls to IS, IOM, FL, ES from mobiles are exhorbitant and with 09 he can't even find the rates and the site is not confidence-inspiring.

When and if the roaming discounters have a guaranteed source of procuring capacity from the national providers thru proper regulatory means, only then will we see sharply falling prices and only then will there be attractive and usable offers for German consumers.

============

I am contemplating a reply to them.

Stan

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

There are also some people who don't care about the money and those you will never be able to help. When I described some of my techniques for saving on communications, one friend asked, "That's not legal, is it?" He just assumed that if you weren't paying AT&T $2+ per minute, it must be illegal. :wacko:

What kind of brainwashing did your friend have to experience to tell such an opinion? :P
In fact, I'm a little bit shocked having read this. I experienced the similar impression when I read the stories about bean counters who prefer detailed billings over saving money :wacko:

[snaimon]

I agree this is a stunning statement, but it is in part true.

As has been written, people and firms just write off these costs as expenses and the US taxpayer eventually foots the bill.

The bean-counters even FROWN on cost savings thru private means as they cannot VERIFY the billing. The can easily produce their corporate bills from US cell carrier to document the charges.

Then you also have the super-rich to whom a $500 monthly cell bill is just a drop in the bucket.

I am not one of them, however.

Stan