Fuck, we’re getting HOSED! :silent:
Just as bad for Canada.
Gay.
What bothers me most is that texting costs anything at all. It’s a couple KB of data and should be free and unlimited with any basic plan. If you want to charge for MMS fine because then you’re at least pushing some real data, but charging for a few characters of text when your network supports voice is just stupid.
i wonder what it looks like when you compare what we pay VS what we use.
Everything is worth what the consumer is willing to pay. Once LTE goes in and it comes down to more or less a 2-man race it will get worse before it gets better. Try getting big red or big orange to match any of the marginal carriers and they’ll laugh you out of the store…
I’ve been saying this for years… It’s already basically a 2 man race though.
That’s the point. The rest of the world is mostly pay-by-use and we’re pay-up-front.
When I was in Tokyo phone plans were so cheap for the same services as here that I almost picked one up for the time I stayed. Data was faster too.
Apple should buy up Sprint or T-Mobile’s network, re-brand them Apple Wireless, and make the new iPhone models in-house exclusive. That’s right up their alley strategically. Then they can charge iFags $200 per month and break all kinds of ARPU records for shitty service.
that… would be interesting to see. sprint is in such bad shape right now, legacy nextel is a drain on them financially, they have sunk tons of cash into wimax…
Have you heard anything about them killing off IDEN yet? They’re kind of damned if they do with business customers and damned if they don’t with network maintenance, unless they can get push-to-talk over wimax to actually work as good as the old school version…
i havent heard anything, but honestly i barely have enough time to run the store, let alone read up on industry rumors.
As with a lot of other industries we subsidize the world.
The Canadian Federal Gov. opened up the cellular industry to 3 new competitors this last year… all foreign owned… I can’t even remember their names right now but i do recall watching Tony Clemente speak on The Agenda about it and it was because they needed to drive additional competition into the market because they identified that Canada’s pays more than anywhere else for cell phones.
It hasnt gone down enough though… why would new entrants low ball that much when they can undercut by a couple points and make more $$$…
That happenned shortly after the government stopped the merger between Bell and Telus. I guess the idea is that once opening up the market to competitiors other than Bell, Rogers and Telus is competition, but who knows how much, if any the prices will reflect this increase in competition. But like you said, it hasn’t really affected it much at all yet, and I don’t think it will without serious changes to the industry - which will more than likely have to be government implimented.
I can tell you for a fact it was cheaper for me to call the US on my Afghani cell phone than it was for her(the wife) to call me on any kind of other plan/setup.
I stopped into the local TIM store today to check into options for text messaging plans, also grabbed a flyer. TIM is one of the largest networks in Italy and some parts of Europe, for those who are unfamiliar. Below are some of the prices -
Contract:
-To buy a SIM card - 5 Euro
-500 minutes (to call anyone) per month - 29 Euro ($40.60 approx), 1000 - 49 Euro, 1500 - 69 Euro
-200 SMS/MMS per month - 5 Euro, 600 - 10 Euro
-40 hours of Internet per month - 9 Euro / 100 hours - 19 Euro
For prepaid:
-60 SMS (to anyone) - 2 Euro per week, 9 Euro activation charge (unless you’re a new customer)
-Unlimited SMS (to TIM only) - 1 Euro per week, 9 Euro activation charge
-International TIM plan - 1 Euro per week, 100 minutes to other TIM members who have the SAME package, only
-16 cent activation charge per call
-8 cents per minute in Italy, 20 cents per minute to US
There are also other plans, but that is just a sample for one of the cheaper networks in Italy
um, it might be because i’ve had a very long day, but that doesnt look cheap at all.
do places in india sell north america phones like we sell euro phones that work in europe?
How about what we pay vs what we make or our quality of life. We’re definitely not the best around, but how bad could it be?
If you really look, there are deals to be had.
I’m in an old grandfathered Sprint plan with unlimited data, with a corporate discount on top of that. My bill is $26 per month after taxes.
A couple of my friends have Virgin Mobile plans with blackberry phones, and they like them fine. My girlfriends father just got a Virgin basic plan with a regular phone, $25 per month no contract.
The ton of people who pay AT&T $100 per month for Iphone plans is dragging that number up…
That is exactly what I was getting at. The minimum in the US gets you a hell of a lot more than the minimum over here. And did anyone mention Cricket? I know their service is not on par with the other companies, but it has gotten alot better over the years. $45 per month gets you unlimited everything, $35 gets you unlimited calling and texting.