Advice for calling US Mobile Phone?

I have a contract anyway, the money isn't wasted for me. So why can't I choose to use my inclusive minutes for receiving calls..?

You must realise that not everybody is like you and only has a PAYG phone which they rarely use. My contract phone is used for both work and personal use and is used daily. There is a system I would like to use (the US one) that I cannot have due to the way the mobile companies think I ought to be using my phone. I am paying them money for a service, why can't I have the service I want..? I agree not everyone wants the system I want, but that's no reason it can't be provided as an option for those that do want it. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

If you're already paying for inclusive minutes, as I am, then it doesn't cost you any extra. For a PAYG emergency phone, where a tenner credit could theoretically last years, does it really matter that much..?

But if you only had to pay the same as for a landline, it wouldn't matter..!

Like I said, for such a few (presumably) short calls, is it really that much of a problem..? I know someone whose mother has a PAYG phone that only sees one or two calls a year. What difference would a few pence for the odd incoming call make to her when a tenner credit lasts years..? Answer nothing.

Ivor

This is true, but at least the prepaid wireless is cheap in the U.S., if you stay away from GSM. You'd think that the weak dollar would help U.S. tourism, but this is not the case.

At least Europeans should be willing to visit the blue states. There's nothing much to see in the red states (aka dumbfuckistan).

I don't claim that the U.S. system is necessarily the best, but no one has put forth any coherent argument as to why a caller should have to pay extra to call a mobile phone.

With the U.S. system, the person who wants the convenience of a mobile phone is responsible for the charges. The owner of the mobile phone can choose whether or not to answer calls, and is hence in complete control.over their charges. Callers are not reluctant to call a cell phone because of extra charges that they might incur.

Actually it roams on O2

Ivor

Yes it is. It is a way that user of the mobile phone can pay for the mobile leg of the call, so that callers don't have to pay a premium to call a mobile.

Many europeans would not go to the US on principle, because of the over-intrusive personal data demanded nowadays.

Pariahs of the world, in the view of some.

O2's network I think.

Phil

Thus spaketh Joseph:

There are no winners or losers to the argument. I think the USA system is crazy, the odd few think it is a good idea. Arguing ain't going to change it anytime soon.

Thus spaketh Steven M. Scharf:

And I can't see why anyone would want to favour the USA system.

I'm afraid the fingerprinting, Nazi immigration questionnaires, shoe carnival at airport security, taking laptops out of bags and all that shit is a sufficient deterent to send us elsewhere. Dubai was a refreshing change.

Phil

Nevertheless it was the choice of the phone owner to carry the phone.

It may be more convenient for you to visit me if I live in an apartment in the city centre, but that doesn't mean you're going to pay my rent.

miguel

to have the convenience of being able to call the called party irrespective of their location ?

It is often more of a benefit to the caller to find the called person, than it is for the called person to be found IME. Mobile phone = electronic tag, but at least you can turn it off.

Phil

Ok, *my* point is I want to be able to pay for incoming calls out of my inclusive minutes, as per the US system. Why can't I have this as an option..? I fully realise not everybody wants it, but it should be available for those of us that do.

Ivor

Sorry to reply to my own post but I forgot to mention - an 0845 or 0870 number is almost as bad as mobile rate..! 0800 is ok but there aren't many

0800 providers that will divert to a mobile and those that do aren't cheap. I want calls out of my minutes, is that so hard to understand..?!

Ivor

The caller *is* charged a premium for calling 0845 and 0870 numbers on nearly all landline tariffs.

As for 0800 numbers terminating on a mobile - how much does that cost? Massively more than the typical 10c/min US mobile users pay for incoming calls, I'd wager.

So yes, it is possible, but the costs are prohibitive.

-- Andy

[snip]

I couldn't agree more.

Ivor (in the UK)

[snip]

I've explained it to you over and over until I'm blue in the face, you're just not getting it..! Or maybe you don't want to get it.

Ivor

[snip]

Where do you get 10c/min..? My friends in the US get their calls taken from their (large) bucket of inclusive minutes, they never pay over the agreed line rental irrespective of the number of incoming or outgoing calls they receive/make.

Ivor

Mentioned in this thread, I guess for a PAYG phone.

To work out the real cost for a contract phone with inclusive minutes, divide the line rental by the number of minutes actually *used* per month (not the number of minutes included).

-- Andy