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girlwhowaspluggedout writes:
"The European Commission reports that, fearing high roaming charges, many EU citizens forgo the use of their mobile phones outside their home country. According to a survey done by the Commission (pdf), when travelling to another EU country, 90% of all EU citizens limit their e-mail use, 47% do not use their mobile internet connection, 33% never place calls, 25% do not text, and a staggering 28% simply turn off their mobile phones.
Roaming charges, the Commission suggests, are hurting the fledgling EU app sector. In trying to avoid paying data premiums, travelers limit their use of data-heavy apps, like travel guides, maps, and photo applications. Frequent travelers are even more likely to turn-off their phones, perhaps due to being better informed about the costs of data roaming.
The Commission reports that data roaming use across the EU has increased by 1500% since the introduction of price caps in 2008. It suggests that by eliminating all roaming charges, mobile providers will gain a further 300 million customers. These findings give further support to regulations proposed by the Commission that will create a single mobile phone market throughout the EU, enabling all customers to enjoy domestic rates when travelling within the EU."
(Score: 1) by mcgrew on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:16AM
I live alone and have only one phone, an Android. $40 a month, but I get unlimited everything. No need for an old phone in the glove box, it's always in my pocket when I'm not using it. I can read books and newspapers on it, send and receive email and texts, use Google Maps...
OTOH my cable bill is $0. Big waste of money, plenty of OTA TV and the picture is clearer than cable (and I have no use for BET, women's channels, sports, or any other cable crap). It would be nice to get CNN but hell, I can get that on my phone anywhere, any time. What are you paying for cable?
"Nobody knows everything about anything." — Dr Jerry Morton, Journey to Madness
(Score: 2) by combatserver on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:29AM
"What are you paying for cable?"
Dropped cable months ago--from my perspective, it's all shit anyway. Unfortunately, Comcast only knocks $10 off the bill if you get internet service with them. I will take that as a statement of their valuation of the cable service--roughly 15% of the total bill.
I hope I can change this later...
(Score: 1) by Maow on Wednesday February 19 2014, @06:07AM
Same here. Android smart phone, unlimited North America-wide talk, unlimited global SMS, "unlimited" internet (throttled after 5 GB/m), tethering allowed. Unsure about MMS fees. No contract.
Wind Mobile -- no affiliation, just reasonably happy customer.
I don't even use most of the services I'm paying for, but I just can't bear to let go of such a nice plan. And when the yearly problem with my cable modem occurs, tether computer to phone, re-connect / re-configure router so main computer is "WAN", and her laptop & phone get internet via tethered phone.
Without such a plan, I'd be quite tempted to switch to PAYG or the cheapest possible plan and rarely use my phone.
(Score: 1) by mcgrew on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:01PM
Well, mine can't possibly have a data cap because I stream KSHE at work every day all day long, but OTOH my TOS says I can't tether. If I could tether I'd get rid of my ISP.
I'm on Boost, like you and your carrier I'm not affiliated, chose them for price but I've been with them for years and had no trouble with them at all, unlike my previous, expensive carrier (AT&T).
"Nobody knows everything about anything." — Dr Jerry Morton, Journey to Madness