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The US monthly plans (about US$79 plus tax on average if I recall correctly) include a certain (very high) number of minutes of call time and messages.

You are still, however it's built into the plan, paying for something you're not doing. If I get 2500 messages a month for example, I don't want to be losing one because somebody sent me a message regardless of how many I get. Same with minutes, if I get 900 minutes a month and someone calls me for a 2 hour chat, why should I lose 120 of them for a call I didn't make.

They're very high numbers so the incoming calls/text payments don't really figure in peoples' minds but the principle of the thing is what I can't wrap my head around. You pay for something you don't do and the company gets paid twice and nobody bats an eyelid. Halve the numbers if you must but you shouldn't be paying for incoming calls and texts.
That's not entirely accurate.

Let's say someone on verizon calls me on att. Well the call is going through his verizon service and then connects to my att service. So both our carriers networks are being used. Technically we should both be charged half the price but instead we each get charged the same price. So the companies deserve to be paid twice i.e. both companies, they just don't deserve to be paid twice as much.

On the other side we still get free calling to other people on our network. So our carrier is basically providing us with free minutes. And we get free nights & weekends, so more no charge service from our carrier.

I take it those free texts etc are to people on the same provider only?
No, there is no such thing as free texts from the same carrier (unless it's a text from the carrier) as there is with minutes, so unlimited texts means to anyone.
 
No, there is no such thing as free texts from the same carrier (unless it's a text from the carrier) as there is with minutes, so unlimited texts means to anyone.

oh, over here we will often have free texts and minutes only to the same provider (carrier) as yourself. this is mainly focused on prepaid credit - but can sometimes be included in pay by the month plans too.
 
I think I'll be buying a second iPhone 4 this week!

I bought an iPhone 4 on launch for $299 and that same line is eligible again but this time for the $399/$499 price. I'm going to buy one and then activate it on one of my other lines at AT&T.
 
If they had met demand everywhere my iPhone ordered from the Apple Store would have shipped, which isn't the case :(.
 
I'm sorry this is wildly off topic, I think we could possibly create a new topic for this as I think it is quite interesting.

Anyway, we all know that in the US a customer is charged to receive a text/call.

In the UK, we aren't. However, the network of the person who is making the call does get charged a fee by the network of the person receiving a call. So where in the US the person receiving the call picks up that cost, in the UK, it's the person who is making the call that picks it up (and it's not an individual cost that you pay separately, it's simply factored into your monthly price plan/cost of your PAYG calls).

http://www.terminatetherate.org/
 
I just walked in and bought my iPhone 4 Friday night at my local Apple store. I thought for sure they'd be out of stock, but they weren't.
 
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