$$$ Charges Rants

[MBX]

This isn't really related to the iphone itself per se, but i just wanted to rant on the telecommunications charges here in the u.s. (at&t & friends)

YOU pay if someone calls you!

Isn't that ridiculous?

Please don't understand this as anti-american ranting, since i'm from EU where you don't pay anything when somebody calls you.

But can somebody explain to me why this is the case here in the u.s.?

Someone dials my nr. accidentally and i tell him he's got the wrong number, yet it charges me 15 or 30cents and more if i was longer on the phone with somebody who called me.

I get some call from overseas and i get charged 10$ or more. WTF?!?

Obviously i can't choose who calls me but isn't it enough already to pay for when YOU dial and call instead to be also charged when somebody calls you?

 

[gauchogolfer]

It certainly does suck, but it's also the norm here in the States.

 

[aristobrat]

i'm from EU where you don't pay anything when somebody calls you.

Isn't that because the person who is calling you has to pay extra on their end to phone you on your mobile phone? How does that actually work? If I'm sitting at my office in the UK and want to use my office "wired" phone to call my friend on his mobile, does my office phone really incur an extra charge for that?

As a person used to how US carriers do things, that (above) sounds as ridiculous to me as how the US system sounds to you.

Perhaps that's part of the reason why US rate plans come with so many more minutes than most EU plans do?

 

[gauchogolfer]

Isn't that because the person who is calling you has to pay extra on their end to phone you on your mobile phone? How does that actually work? If I'm sitting at my office in the UK and want to use my office "wired" phone to call my friend on his mobile, does my office phone really incur an extra charge for that?

As a person used to how US carriers do things, that (above) sounds as ridiculous to me as how the US system sounds to you.

Perhaps that's part of the reason why US rate plans come with so many more minutes than most EU plans do?

This is true in France. If you make a call from a payphone, you pay more to call a mobile number than a landline. Sucks also.

 

[Small White Car]

Obviously i can't choose who calls me but isn't it enough already to pay for when YOU dial and call instead to be also charged when somebody calls you?

It's treated like the internet. Each person is paying for their connection to the network.

I pay money to an ISP to get internet at home. I use that to send you an e-mail. You ALSO have to pay an ISP to get internet in order to receive that e-mail. The e-mail is free, but we both pay for the connection to the internet.

That's the same way the phone companies work. You pay for a certain amount of minutes to be connected to their phone network. The person you call does the same. When you're talking you are both using your connection.

Home internet is generally unlimited time and cell phones are not, but other than that it's exactly the same model! What's so odd about that?

With the U.S. system, whether you call a friend or the friend calls you, you both get charged the same as if the other person had called. With your system, if you always call your friend then YOU end up paying for both of you all the time. You might start to resent that friend. With our system that can't happen. You don't have to argue "no, you call ME back and then we'll talk!"

 

[Anthros]

This isn't really related to the iphone itself per se, but i just wanted to rant on the telecommunications charges here in the u.s. (at&t & friends)

YOU pay if someone calls you!

<snip>

I get some call from overseas and i get charged 10$ or more. WTF?!?

Obviously i can't choose who calls me but isn't it enough already to pay for when YOU dial and call instead to be also charged when somebody calls you?

I'm an American who's lived in France, so I'm familiar with both systems. I have a mild preference for the European system (it's great to be able to answer your mobile without thinking about how many minutes you have left) but the US system has some advantages too.

One of those US advantages is that *it does not matter* who is calling you from what kind of phone--your account is debited only the minutes attributable to the call itself. So if you talk to someone from overseas for ten minutes, your account is debited for ten minutes' worth of use. It doesn't matter whether your overseas friend is calling from their mobile or Skype or a land line...the minutes used are all that's debited.

The OP seems to be conflating the weaknesses of both US and Euro systems: that charge varies by phone type and that the receiver is charged. That's just not the case in any plan I've encountered.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[samab]

Isn't that ridiculous?

The only thing ridiculous is trying to compare the two systems without looking at the big picture.

For the same amount of money, Americans would be getting MORE than twice the number of minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile, and unlimited nights and weekends.

 

[TurboSC]

I hope Google will win the 700mhz spectrum and do something to rock the boat