Friday, July 02, 2004
Wireless telephonic
Incidentally, I've discovered the one truly annoying downside to the much lauded legal innovation of "mobile phonenumber portability". I thought I was all for it. I also thought that when I spent extra money at my cellular provider to get a tri-band World Phone that I'd be able to use it all over the world.
And technically, there's no reason I can't. GSM. 900Mhz. 1800Mhz. 1900Mhz. Made to go global.
However...
Phonenumber portability has the phone companies terrified at the thought that every dissatisfied customer (and recent studies show that this is a leading industry in dissatisfied customers), every talkative so-and-so who sees greener grass on the other side, will take said company's subsidized, often "free" phone and run away.
So they lock them. They code the phones so that they will only work with one service. Yes, I know, this has been going on for ages. And I can see their side. But it used to be, if you were a good customer, and had a good reason, they'd unlock your phone. Then, while traveling, you could just buy a Turkish SIM card, or an Italian one...wherever. Slip it into your phone, and you're sorted. Then, after returning home, it's back to your 5-year air-tight contract. In goes the old SIM card, no harm done. Plus you're paying the phone company for minutes you never even use (while away).
But I think the words of the Phone Company tech-support specialist I spoke with yesterday say it best: "Yeah, I know it sucks. We don't unlock them anymore, and everyone's pissed off. They're gonna make locking illegal, in like, a few months. But that doesn't help you, I guess. Too bad. Sorry."
And yes, I also know, there are ways to do-it-yourself. But I haven't the time nor the energy. Tech-support sapped my last reserves.
I did discover a few interesting factoids, though. Text messaging costs basically the same, whether you're roaming globally or not, so while it would cost me about $5 a minute to make a call from my phone on my current Phone Company's global roaming plan, I can message for about 15 cents. So I've been "texting" K in Germany (and now Switzerland) and it's great.
Now I can see why all the Euro's are hooked on it.
Especially after what K discovered in Frankfurt. While it cost 2 cents a minute to phone me (in LA) from Germany on a residential phone, it cost 16 cents a minute to call someone from that same line, in Germany, on their local mobile phone. Go figure.
Again, texting really starts to make sense.
4WIW, I USED 2 H8 TXT MSGS. NOW TXT=XLNT.
CUL8R. SPST.
THX
S.
|
And technically, there's no reason I can't. GSM. 900Mhz. 1800Mhz. 1900Mhz. Made to go global.
However...
Phonenumber portability has the phone companies terrified at the thought that every dissatisfied customer (and recent studies show that this is a leading industry in dissatisfied customers), every talkative so-and-so who sees greener grass on the other side, will take said company's subsidized, often "free" phone and run away.
So they lock them. They code the phones so that they will only work with one service. Yes, I know, this has been going on for ages. And I can see their side. But it used to be, if you were a good customer, and had a good reason, they'd unlock your phone. Then, while traveling, you could just buy a Turkish SIM card, or an Italian one...wherever. Slip it into your phone, and you're sorted. Then, after returning home, it's back to your 5-year air-tight contract. In goes the old SIM card, no harm done. Plus you're paying the phone company for minutes you never even use (while away).
But I think the words of the Phone Company tech-support specialist I spoke with yesterday say it best: "Yeah, I know it sucks. We don't unlock them anymore, and everyone's pissed off. They're gonna make locking illegal, in like, a few months. But that doesn't help you, I guess. Too bad. Sorry."
And yes, I also know, there are ways to do-it-yourself. But I haven't the time nor the energy. Tech-support sapped my last reserves.
I did discover a few interesting factoids, though. Text messaging costs basically the same, whether you're roaming globally or not, so while it would cost me about $5 a minute to make a call from my phone on my current Phone Company's global roaming plan, I can message for about 15 cents. So I've been "texting" K in Germany (and now Switzerland) and it's great.
Now I can see why all the Euro's are hooked on it.
Especially after what K discovered in Frankfurt. While it cost 2 cents a minute to phone me (in LA) from Germany on a residential phone, it cost 16 cents a minute to call someone from that same line, in Germany, on their local mobile phone. Go figure.
Again, texting really starts to make sense.
4WIW, I USED 2 H8 TXT MSGS. NOW TXT=XLNT.
CUL8R. SPST.
THX
S.
|
