Advice for calling US Mobile Phone?

Yes.

And China's mobile phone coverage is nothing like anything you'd expect in Western Europe.

There are many factors that affect pricing, and I'm not even arguing that the UK's is reasonable. I don't know if it is or isn't frankly- but just comparing it to other countries isn't useful in determining that.

No- but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

The difference is that you wouldn't have mobile phone providers in London selling you domestic packages on TDMA systems. FWIW, the TDMA coverage seemed pretty poor too. When I was living in the US, I was living in urban areas, where I'd expect coverage- I'd forgotten how ropy it can get the moment you get anywhere less built up.

The caller-pays advantage is quite simple IMO. Beautifully simple in fact. If someone wants to call me on my mobile, they have to pay to do so, the same way they have to pay when they call my landline. I don't want to pay to receive a call. That one system (landline vs. mobile) costs more than another makes a certain amount of sense- but I suspect that termination charges will eventually go down- indeed, they already are. If it bothers someone that they have to pay so much to call me- then I call them back. Indeed, I often insist on doing so if it will be a long conversation. Suits me perfectly.

In Canada my plan includes 200 minutes for $20.00 per month. Both outgoing and incoming calls are charged. However, the calls are billed by the second not by the minute. For more examples of available plans visit

They pay more to call mobiles, and they have the choice as to whether or not they call them. I'm quite satisfied with what I pay for phone calls, and I reckon I probably spend quite a bit less on a per minute basis than the average user in a country like the US, where the receiver pays.

I would call mine back, and I don't know anyone who doesn't have a landline. If you care that much about what your friends have to pay, then you have a simple solution. Rent a landline number and divert calls from that to your mobile.

"chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco" wrote in

I agree. The problem with hands-free is that the person is still not paying attention to driving--their hands are free, but their mind is engaged in the call.

And it would be really rare to get a CDMA signal in the UK! The GSM network in the U.S. is in its infancy, and coverage is still very poor once you leave the urban core. If you're in the U.S., and you want good coverage, you don't go the GSM route.

This is a good point. Most people that went the GSM route in the U.S., did so being unaware that their coverage would be much worse than they had under TDMA/Analog.

Don't know where you were, but TDMA still has the most digital coverage of any network in the U.S., with CDMA a close second, and GSM far, far behind. Visitors to the U.S. are better off getting an old TDMA phone on prepay, than to buy an overpriced SIM card, for reasons of both coverage and cost.

With WPP, if you don't want to pay to receive a call, you choose not to receive the call.

The biggest problem with caller pays, is not that the caller pays, it's that it has made the cost per call very high compared to other places such as the U.S..The carriers have deluded people into believeing the mantra of "incoming calls are free," so people will not demand less expensive WPP.

I called SBC (Pacific Bell) because I was thinking of switching to metered service since we rarely use the landline (but they won't let you get DSL without a landline). They told me that I would be charged for everything except 911. I explicitly asked about toll free calls, and they said that these were counted the same as local calls.

However I called back just now and checked again, and was told the opposite, toll free numbers are not included in the per minute rate. So I owe you a beer.

Doesn't seem to be true. There are more active mobile phones in the UK than there are people.

The number of calls and text messages is staggering.

that was the case 4 years ago but it has come on massively since then. I have been working with a US colleague where I had GSM and GPRS but his steam phone had switched to analog mode !

Phil

No, there is quite a lot of 3G coverage in the UK.

Wouldn't you be happier paying the same to call a mobile as a landline..? One reason I *never* call a mobile from a landline is the sheer ripoff charges. It's not so bad from my mobile but it's still a hell of a lot worse than the US system IMHO.

Ivor

That is not the "real world" exchange rate.

Why is the minimum wage relavent? That's an amount per hour and doesn't even correlate with a minimum income.

The average income is far more relevant, and that's about the same in the US and UK - using the *actual* exchange rate.

Which is down to tax.

It's not. I can drink in a bar/pub cheaper in the UK. I can get a train cheaper in the UK. I can make a long distance/international landline call for the same sort of price in the UK as the US.

Why should mobile calls be more expensive in the UK, particularly as our population density is much greater?

Vodafone were in the news this week. Profits before writedowns of £10.3bn on a turnover of £34.13bn. Dividends doubled.

-- Andy

other

landline..?

ripoff

Got to be something wrong when it is cheaper (for the caller) to use a service that places a cross-network UK-UK mobile call or a landline-mobile call through the US?

-- Woody

harrogate2 at ntlworld dot com

this_address_is_for snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

whether or

basis

something

likewise

If the US systems are so much better, why is it then that a significantly larger portion of the world is now using GSM rather than TDMA? It's not just UK and Europe.

-- Woody

harrogate2 at ntlworld dot com

We're talking about the way calls are charged for, not what type of system they use. The reasons for the US still using TDMA/CDMA and analogue are historical and also based on the gepgraphy of that country. The reasons for them using callee pays is largely due to the argument that the caller should not pay a premium due to the callee deciding they want to be reachable while mobile. You want to go mobile, *you* pay the cost of doing so..! Sounds reasonable to me.

Ivor

While you are "technically" right CDMA referened here was referring to the 2G implementation of it such as is used in the US by Verizon and Sprint PCS and in Canada with Bell and Telus Mobility. W-CDMA or UTMS is used in Europe in several places.

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You really do need to pay attention. I don't give a s*it that the rest of the world has marched off and left North America in the dust. Deal with it! And while you're at it why don't you give them smart-alecky Japanese a tongue-lashing as well. They chose not to use GSM as well! And I know you were too busy gloating about what you use in Europe, but GSM is being adopted in North America. Its wholesale adoption hasn't gone like it has in the rest of the world but nonetheless it is happening. I supposed though that you'll whine that it doesn't count since North Americans are using different frequencies than are used in the majority of other world locations.

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I wouldn't complain about it, but not if it meant having to pay for incoming calls. One problem is that the cost of landlines has plummeted, so the difference seems even greater. Another thing to remember is that the cost of calling mobiles, while high, is not an exact reflection of the termination charges- as the wide range of pricing illustrates.

Good- that's one way of forcing the prices down.

The US system seems great until you exhaust your daytime minutes, and start having to pay 25 to 40 cents a minute. Frankly, when I'm getting called on my mobile- it's on business- and the businesses calling me are a) usually getting good rates on calling a mobile and b) not going to be on the phone for long. If a friend calls me- I'll call them on a landline. If none of your friends had access to a landline, I could understand why you'd want a US system, but for my uses, the current system works very well for me.

price parity or call it what you like, IME something costing $5 in the states is very likely to cost £5 here.

its a business input cost. If you want someone to go dig a trench in the UK it will cost you a lot more for the labour and a lot more for the fuel to get the labour on site and fuel the plant. This is the start of the escalating cost base.

indeed, but its not refundable and its an input cost our businesses have to pay that US ones do not. If all the inputs cost more we can hardly be surprised if the output costs more.

Vodafone - "But after these costs it made a loss of £4.7bn"

There are practically no trains in the US to compare and I haven't noticed meals and drinks being more expensive. I pay for a decent hotel less than I would pay for a Travelodge etc etc.

Phil