Mobile Telecoms and Moblie Networks

I want to know how mobile telecoms is in other nations.

I recently read that America has the least competitive phone market in the world, and that's not gonna get better with the merger of T-Mobile USA and AT&T (I believe the 4rd and 2st biggest?).

Why? In Britain I have the choice of five major networks, all with 98% of GSM coverage.

The same goes for Europe.

Hell, India has got the cheapest call plans in the world. It's about 0.1 pence for a text, compared with 5 pence in Britain (and Europe), and about 15 pence in America.

This thread is dedicated to the talking about mobile telecoms networks, and how it is done.

For example, if I want a phone from a certain network, I can go into the city centre, and take my pick from the many phone shops. When I say shops, I mean shops. Like a Best Buy, but for mobile phones.

How are phones and networks marketed, sold, cost in other places around the world?

Is 4G gonna be great? How is the 3G in your area? Is it right for smartphones to exist?

I say Internet Mobile Phones should be the way to go. Get everything online and beat out those greedy, incompetent telecom companies. Seriously, why should we have to pay for SMS at all? I certainly don't pay anything for my email. And international calling rates are absolutely terrible, data rates even more so. There should be only one standard price for everything, no matter where you are, and the internet can accomplish that.

I think sending/receiving texts shoudl be free. It already piggy-backs on existing signals, so what's the deal with charging you for something your phone already does?

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Here's the thing: America is big. No, not that big, bigger. Much of the population lives out in the boonies, and given our population density, that means they're actually quite far from each other. Our cities, for those who happen to live in them? They sprawl, a lot.

On top of this, regarding mobile telecom, it has actual competition from landlines. Service is cheap, local calls are unlimited, and long distance isn't terribly expensive either, while as I understand it landline service in most countries outside the US is a titanic ripoff.

Finally, things are extremely fragmented. The country is still parceled up between the modern descendants of CDMA, GSM, and PCS, special measures of which often mean dumping your phone to switch providers, and a literal incapability to roam due to physical incompatibility between networks.

Eric,

Some links about Internet Connection speed by country. Relevant to a conversation in the GOP thread.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:27:27 PM by Alichains

I've heard that in America you have to pay for receiving SMS/test messages, is that true? because something like that seems ridiculous.

In the quiet of the night, the Neocount of Merentha mused: How long does evolution take, among the damned?

You pay for anything they can justify.

Yep. You pay for extra minutes, internet connectivity, and SMS/MMS. And sometimes (in the case of the iPhone) you pay extra to have service with a cool phone.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:30:54 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

WHAT?

I don't pay to receive calls or SMS. I pay 10p to make a text, and 5p to make a call.

ie. about 16 cent for text, and 8 cent for a call.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:38:19 PM by Inhopelessguy

Plans out here start at roughly $40/month if you're not doing pay-as-you-go*

. $40 gets you 450 minutes. You can add 1000 text messages for $10 or unlimited texting for $20. Data + texting for regular phones is $30, but if you have a smartphone you have to get the unlimited texting ($20) and a data pack that starts at $15 for 200MB of data transfer and goes up to $45.

Currently Drunkscriblerian and I pay about $150/month for cell service because he has an iPhone and I have a texting phone.

Prepay phones can be cheaper, but their service is usually terrible. Virgin Mobile has texting for $0.15/each (sending or recieving) and $0.10/minute.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:48:45 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

I'm kind of hoping the whole net neutrality thing will force telcos to charge strictly by the bit, with actual expenses and profit margins open to public scrutiny by law. The thought of voice “minutes” and text messages being exposed to the financial realities of VoIP and eMail is hilarious.

Eric,

We have plans that give you 500MB of internet, unlimited texts and calls for £20(US$32)/mo.

And that comes with a free HTC.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:48:38 PM by Inhopelessguy

Yeah, we don't even have free phones. You have to pay the $100-$400so for a phone and mail in the rebate for the "free phones".

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

....

....

....

Whut.

<brain freezes>

Oh, and that same plan, (swapping out 200MB data instead of 500MB) would cost $104.99/month over here.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

...

...

...

Whut.

T-Mobile UK is much, much better than T-Mobile America, I guess?

Has that merger between AT&T and T-Mobile America gone through yet?

I'm not sure. We only recently got T-Mobile service up here though, so I'm not as familiar with them.

EDIT: Looks like Unlimited talk + unlimited text + 200MB data through T-Mobile is $69.99/month before taxes and stuff.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:58:58 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

The sad thing is, India has a better call plan.

I'm not saying anything, but your mobile infrastructure sucks.

Is it true that you get call drops IN THE MIDDLE OF A CITY?

Depends on the city and where it's at. I'm in a mountain region, so cell reception is going to be spotty, it's really just a limitation of the technology over here.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

I love the way they use “unlimited” in their advertising materials to refer to something that isn't, the FTC should get all up in their business.

Eric,

Unlimited here has a limit - the limit, however, is so large, it's hard to reach it if you are a moderate user.

Which means moderate users are being ripped off to the tune of billions a year.

Eric,

Wait, my moderate users, or yours?

Because you seem to have some weird psuedo-oglipoly in mobile telecoms in America.

The UK ain't no great shakes for open competition either (remember T-Mobile and Orange are actually the same company,) even when compared to the results of our T-Mobile/AT&T merger.

Eric,

edited 16th Jul '11 2:37:08 PM by EricDVH

I know T-Mobile/Orange are the same. But, like I say, we have better call plans than you.

And the merger went through...? You poor, poor souls.

edited 16th Jul '11 2:39:14 PM by Inhopelessguy