Are American mobile phone companies really this evil?

Only if you're going from the first to the second. If you're going the other way, it's a 25% increase. So just multiply your bill by 1.25. Or multiply by .8 if you want to see the other way.

Fight smart, not fair.

I should've just said nothing…

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

This sounds really backwards. It's been YEARS in here that:

• Checking your voicemail is free when done from your cell phone
• You can validate menus as soon as they start playing
• You only pay to emit, not to receive (at least for national calls).

I'd have expected the States to be pioneers of cell phone technology, I'm quite surprised it's the reverse.

Of course, I'm also surprised that there are countries where reverse-billed SMS exist, so...

edited 22nd May '12 1:49:16 AM by Medinoc

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

From what I've read, there are also regional monopolies as well — especially for mobile phone, television and internet.

Compare that to Europe (in general): three or more major network providers *

, a number of different retail chains and mobile phone shops *

including Supermarkets that offer their own mobile packages

, and regulation of both tarriffs and bandwidth.

Keep Rolling On

The technology isn't the issue. You're thinking of businesses charging for access to it.

Fight smart, not fair.

In here, that went together. As phones became more mainstream and hardware cheaper (that was before smartphones), services became cheaper too.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

Yup. Daboss, it really is a case of you usually getting the hardware through your service provider as part of the incitement to join them in the first place around these parts. And, competition as to who provides what hardware with which package? Can be fierce. The spiffiest tech often brings a whole load more to your network. Well, for 12 or so months, at least.

After that, the networks hope to keep them by keeping costs down.

edited 22nd May '12 3:20:00 AM by Euodiachloris

See, here they get money by putting out ads with deceptive offers that sound like a bargain at first glance and then slam you with huge bills once you're hooked. They're like drug dealers in that way.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Uh... those 12 months in the UK are key. Try getting out of a contract for whatever reason before your due-date... and, oh boy... fine time!

Over here, contracts are usually two years, and by then the tech has moved on.

So they're relying more on keeping stock in the spiffiest and shiniest tech instead of prices.

Edit: Oh, and also every time you get a new phone through them, you renew your contract for another two years.

edited 22nd May '12 10:43:43 AM by DrunkGirlfriend

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

The contracts will vary depending on the deal. 9, 12, 18 and 24 months are the usual. It depends on who you go with, what deal with them you have... and what the tech was you signed up for. It can get very complex, and that very complexity can hide hidden sharks.

Which is where they make the money. But, in the main, we get lower running costs than you do. Even with the odd shark in the sea.

Currently I get unlimited data and effectively unlimited free texts and calls (I don't ever use anything close to the allowance) for £35/month on a 2-year deal. Before I got a smartphone, I was on a pay-as-you go phone, and even that didn't charge for receiving calls or texts. That may have been a thing years ago, but if so, it disappeared once mobile phones became a general consumer item.

Mind you, America's different. The UK, western Europe and places like Japan and Korea have the advantage of quite a high population density compared to the US average. It's one thing to blanket the east coast urban areas with cell coverage, but Montana and Iowa are different circumstances. Plus, as I understand it, the technology used in US cellphone networks is quite different to that used elsewhere. That's why you have two different models of iPhone depending on which carrier you go with, for instance - one with a SIM card and one without.

Perfect summary of why a well-regulated mark with constraints for corporations is needed.

edited 23rd May '12 3:45:37 AM by Susanoo

Ah, yes. The rest of the world uses GSM (an internationally agreed standard) whereas America...

... doesn't.

Wow, do you guys just like using things that nobody else does?

@Hopeless:

Apple drops '4G' from iPad adverts: It's happening with 4G as well:

edited 23rd May '12 4:00:15 AM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On

Oh, dear.

-facepalm-

Man, you guys had to be different, didn't you?

They use different frequencies and measure wavelengths in imperial units?

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

No, it's that two of our major cell phone companies (Sprint and Verizon) use CDMA, which uses a different set of frequencies (I think that they're much higher frequencies), while the other two (T-Mobile and AT&T) use the same GSM frequencies as the other countries.

And we do actually use metric for frequencies/wavelengths. This is probably because there is no imperial measure for that.

edited 23rd May '12 5:31:23 AM by Balmung

So you have two frequency bands?

That's... why?

Different bands depending on region and network supplier, it sounds like. I guess it depended on what bands were free back when they were allocated — and remember the old Analogue TV Bands? They're going to be used for 4G.

edited 23rd May '12 6:19:59 AM by Greenmantle

Keep Rolling On

Well, in part it's also because CDMA means you can't switch hardware without your cellular provider knowing about it. With a GSM phone, you can simply buy a new phone from ebay or something, swap the SIM card, and you're good to go.

With CDMA, you actually have to go down to your provider to purchase a new phone, and sign all the new contracts, and yadda yadda.

It also means that you can't use a competitor's phone. For example, if I'm using T Mobile, and I wanted the ATT exclusive CoolPhone (not a real phone), then it'd be pretty easy to buy a CoolPhone and put the T Mobile SIM in it, because ATT and T Mobile both (mostly) operate using GSM. However, if I was on Verizon, and wanted a CoolPhone then I'd be SOL, because Verizon only uses CDMA.

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

Even better than that — here, you can buy cheaply pay-as-you-go simcards*

from supermarkets (do supermarkets even offer Mobile Phones or Contracts in the US?), and some phones can come with more than one SIM card.

I'm guessing the adoption of GSM is one of the factors why the non-US mobile phone market is so competitive...

Keep Rolling On

We do have pay-as-you-go phones over here, but they're all terrible. Grocery stores have them, but they usually don't carry contract phones unless we're counting places like Wal Mart or Target. It's difficult to find SIM cards sold by themselves though, and I don't think I've ever seen a paygo phone sold with more than one SIM.

Hilariously enough, some of the pay-as-you-go phones are CDMA.

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

@Balmung: Frequency is just measured in /seconds, which is the same in metric, imperial, and Chinese time.

I honestly have no idea what sort of plan I'm on, since my mobile was forcibly bought for me at a time when I despised the very idea of mobile phones. I've softened somewhat since, but never did bother to figure out how much it costs me; since €5 often lasts me a couple of weeks, it doesn't really matter, and if I wanted to qualify for free calls or texts, I would first have to spend more on my mobile than I already do, which rather defeats the purpose.

If I was charged for receiving calls on the other hand, I would be more screwed than an actual screw.

One thing the companies over here do is cut off your mobile if it isn't used for six months, requiring you to buy more credit in order to reactivate it. For most people, this isn't a problem, but I've had it happen to me due to preferring not to use it where possible. Does anyone try that in America?

Ukrainian Red Cross

Yeah, that's a pretty common thing with the pay-as-you-go phones. Depending on who you get your service through, the length of time before they'll switch it off varies from six months to a year.

Most places charge you for receiving calls though. You buy a block of "minutes", and that's how many minutes you can be on the phone, regardless of who placed the call.

edited 23rd May '12 7:57:10 AM by DrunkGirlfriend

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