Text 1023, 126 rader
Skriven 2006-05-09 06:51:54 av Philip Lozier (1:267/169)
   Kommentar till text 1009 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: none
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 MvdV>>> Of course. But is that "unlimited service" really unlimited?
 MvdV> [..]

 PL>> It is unlimited local, regional, and long distance... not
 PL>> international...

 MvdV> So it is not really unlimited. There are exceptions. Just like
 MvdV> here...

It's entirely unlimited as far as use in the USA.

 PL>> so 24/7 I can call anybody in the lower 48, Alaska, and Hawaii at the
 PL>> fixed rate (39.99 plus taxes and surcharges bringing it to like 43 or
 PL>> 44 bux a month).

 MvdV> I would not call $44/month exactly "free".

Considering I used to run up LD bills around a couple of hundred dollars a
month, it's close enough to free for me, being only a couple of dollars more
than I used to pay for just local service.

 MvdV> Who is going to pay one Euro a minute on raoming charges of you can
 MvdV> make an almost free call with your laptop. a wifi hotspot and VOIP?

I don;t know how wifi and voip work together...  wouldn;t inbound be a problem?
 Can't always be in a hotspot.

 PL>> Many of the providers have been offering free "walkie-talkie" services
 PL>> for people on their network... free calls in essence for whoever is on
 PL>> either end, no matter how far away they are.

 MvdV> I bet these customers pay a monthly fee for that....

Only the normal cell phone monthly charge, and the ones offering it are at the
same price range as the cell providers who don't, so there is really no
additional charge for it.  It has made many switch providers.

 MvdV> You see here most cell phones are pre-paid. There is no monthly fee
 MvdV> and you pay in advance for a card that give you so many minutes.

That is common here, but usually among people who can;t get aproved for a
monthly plan.  Much more expensive than the plans are... kinda like the
pre-paid AOL that is offered to people who can;t get an internet account due to
lack of a credit card or a checking account.

 PL>> I hate it.  Nothing is more annoying when being in crowded events and
 PL>> having people talking away, and hearing the screaching of the person
 PL>> they're talking to blaring out of their cell phone, and the non stop
 PL>> BEEP_BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!

 MvdV> Welcome to the 20th century. Better get used to it, like cars, it
 MvdV> is not going away.

Thought we'd finished out the 20th century :)

 PL>> I would say -this- cuts into profits though as now you have BOTH sides
 PL>> talking free.

 MvdV> Thgere is the monthly fee. I bet these customers spend more on
 MvdV> their phone bill than the perpaid user who only pays for the calls
 MvdV> and who has no mothly fee.

Nope.

 PL>> If inbounds were free though, than many, many more people would get
 PL>> them.

 MvdV> People who only use them for incoming calls and hence generate no
 MvdV> income for the cell phone company.

There would always be the monthly fee.

 PL>> What they would lose on a per person basis would more than be
 PL>> made up for by volume use.  It's a simple concept that has been
 PL>> applied to many things in the past at great success.

 MvdV> Sure, but it does not work if you give it away for free.

Monthly fee.

 MvdV> Suppose
 MvdV> you were to offer people to take down their trees for free. ToTally
 MvdV> free, no charges whatsoever. Yes, you would get lots of
 MvdV> customers....

Different nut. Can't charge a monthly fee to one time customers.

 MvdV> As I understand it in most parts of the USA local calls are free.
 MvdV> Including calls to cell phones.

Where I'm at they are, unlimited use with the fixed monthly billing.

 MvdV> So suppose i had one of these cell
 MvdV> phones with free incoming calls. What would I do when I wanted to
 MvdV> contact you? I would make the following deal with you: I call you,
 MvdV> let it ring three times and hang up. You see the caller id and call
 MvdV> me back. No charge for you, no charge for me. How is the cell phone
 MvdV> company going to make money?

From my experience landline to cell phones don't really work with determining
the rings based on the tones you hear over the phone, so it would be difficult
to send a three ring signal and make sure it really didn;t ring only two times,
or 4 times.  Found this out as sometimes I misplace my cell phone from time to
time in the house and dial my number from my landline.  Sometimes the landline
will indicate a ring and the cell hasn't even started to ring yet, or the cell
will start to ring before the landline indicates it... a second or two of dead
air existing after I dial the last digit, but the cell is chattering away.

In any event, both companies would be paid, as the cell is charging a monthly
fee, as is the landline.

 PL>> As to on all the time... everybody I know with a cell phone has it on
 PL>> all the time... you don't get charged for anybody dialing your cell
 PL>> number, only if you answer it, so turning it off to save money doesn't
 PL>> make sense to me.

 MvdV> Hmmm... good point. However... Dale switches it off...

Maybe he has his for a different reason... some people only have them for the
event of an emergency when they are in a location where they can't access a
phone.

Phil

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