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Title: You are being royally ripped off by your cell phone carrier
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URL Source: http://www.americablog.com/2012/05/ ... ing-royally-ripped-off-by.html
Published: May 6, 2012
Author: John Aravosis on 5/03/2012 01:02:00 PM
Post Date: 2012-05-06 10:14:25 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 235
Comments: 28
You are being royally ripped off by your cell phone carrier By John Aravosis on 5/03/2012 01:02:00 PM | Reddit | Tumblr | Digg | FARK What's wrong with this picture? This is my iPhone with my French plan that costs only $26 a month. How much is yours? Unless you're paying $26 a month for unlimited phone calls, unlimited text, free international calls, and 3 gigs of data, per month, you are being royally ripped off. Because that's what they pay in France for far more service on their iPhones, and other phones, than we pay in the states for three times as much. I pay $89 a month or so for my Verizon iPhone mobile plan in the states. That covers 450 minutes of call time a month, 2 gigs of data, and a set number of text messages (and I can't even confirm how many) - and being an American carrier, I am charged minutes for calls I receive. And don't even think of calling anyone abroad, I don't even want to know how much it costs. Also do NOT use your phone abroad, or it will cost you $1.29 a minute (or you can pay extra for a "special" deal that will "only" cost you $0.99 cents a minute). And if you use your cell phone's data/Internet plan abroad, well, you'd better take out a second mortgage on your house to pay for it. Then there's my new French mobile plan from a company called FREE. (I travel enough for work that it's been worth it to have a plan over here.) My FREE plan, that I use on the same Verizon iPhone, costs me 19.99 euros a month, or US$26 at the current exchange rate (if you have their home Internet service, it's only 15.99 a month). Keep in mind, this is for my FRENCH cell phone plan that's based in France, I can't use it in the states. I'm just trying to show you what home-country cell phone plans cost in other developed countries that some of our countrymen like to consider inferior. If it's $26 in France, why is it $85 in the states for less? And what do I get for only $26 a month? - Unlimited minutes for calls in France, to both cells and landlines. - Unlimited minutes for calls to the US and Canada, both cells and landlines. - Unlimited minutes for calls to landlines in most of Europe. - No charges for calls received. - Unlimited text messages and SMS in France. - 3 gigs of data a month, then they throttle you down. - You automatically connect to the company's wifi all over France and its territories. - And I'm pretty sure you can set up your phone as a personal hotspot for free too (it just comes out of your 3 gigs a month). - There's no minimum contract - you're charged each month until you cancel. So if you want to get the plan for a week-long trip, go ahead (though you have to register it with a French address, and do it online as they have no physical offices). Call it the Freedom Phone. Oh, and it was painfully easy to sign up. I just went to their Web site, entered my credit card, put in a local French home address, and when I arrived here I had a letter waiting for me (took about ten days to get), took the SIM card they sent me (the card is compatible with large size or micro SIM, you just punch out the size you need), put it into my phone, then went to their Web site and clicked the 'activate' button - and voila, it worked. It was that simple. Why can a French company charge 1/3 the price of a US company to offer iPhone users a better cell phone plan? And why haven't we had congressional hearings about why American consumers are being reamed by our phone companies? Folks, Americans need to wise up. We are being royally ripped off, compared to the rest of the world. When I tell people here that I pay Comcast $180 a month for home Internet and cable TV (and I don't even get the premium movie channels), they laugh, since folks here pay $30 a month for high speed 100 megabyte fiber optic Internet, cable TV, and phone service (that includes unlimited calls around the world) combined. We should be embarrassed, and then outraged, by how badly we are being cheated by American phone companies and Internet providers. 70% of Americans don't own a passport, and with our lousy number of vacation days compared to Europeans, it's no wonder - it's a long flight to Europe, and who has a week of vacation time to spare, especially once you have a family? But while our isolationism is understandable, we pay a serious economic price for it. Americans have no idea how badly our own corporations are ripping us off. (PS In good news, I was able to unlock my Verizon iphone, for international SIM cards, by simply calling Verizon. Again, it only works for international SIMs, not for US competitors of Verizon, but at least that's something.)
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#1. To: tom007 (#0)
Ha. Got you all beat. I PAY NOTHING, not one farthing, ever. I have no phone.
We have phones for our convenience and driving insurance from GreatCall.com , 50 minutes/month, which costs 14.99/month plus all the normal taxes and fees and associated got'chas.
Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson Wife has one, I use hers if need be. I am not allowed to talk to strangers, women nor both of my friends.
T-mobile actually has a great international plan. about $65 a month for unlimited calls in the u.s. and many countries internationally including N & S. America, europe & more. That is very unusual & much cheaper than days past of landline rates.
"Even to the death fight for truth, and the LORD your God will battle for you". Sirach 4:28
Smart wifey - keepin' you outta trouble.
Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson I have no idea how much we should or shouldn't be paying but I believe that the author makes a huge mistake in trying to compare payment amounts in a very small country like France with the payment amounts in a country as large as the United States. The liberals do the same thing when they try to compare the healthcare costs of a European country smaller than New York City with that of the entire U.S. Wireless companies in the United States have to build-out a network for the entire United States. Those costs are massive in comparison to the costs French cell phone companies. That all figures in to the amount they charge their customers. Calling Ron Paul an isolationist is like calling your neighbor a hermit because he doesn't come over and break your window - unknown Jesus said, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do. Evangelical Fundinuts say, "kill them all who will not bow down to the Zionist Jew." - F.A. Hayek Fan
Ha. Got you all beat. I PAY NOTHING, not one farthing, ever. I have no phone. I have no cell phone and I do not have cable. So, there. ;-) I can recall during the 1930s when we HAD NO MONTHLY BILLS. None, nada.
However, U.S. providers have economy of scale. The real question is what is the real cost per user? Yes, U.S. providers have to have a larger network but they also have a much greater number of customers. So, with proper planning the cost should actually be LESS per user. What we have going on is crony capitalism and not competition. There is NO free market in cell or cable service because of government controlled competition - which means NO competition. And the false analogy between European Hellthcare and the U.S. is just that -- false. There is no sound reason, other than greed, for the higher costs in the U.S.. Big Pharma controls both the FDA and the AMA and thereby controls the medical industry. The AMA keeps the numbers of graduating doctors down, while ensuring that the curriculum is a Big Pharma curriculum, and the FDA acts as Big Pharma's Gestapo to prevent alternatives to their noxious wares. Do the research - I have spent hour after hour reading about the incestuous relationship between Big Pharma and their controlled subsidiary the FDA. The system has been designed and built to keep the average individual under constant economic duress - through high taxes and unneeded "needs". It keeps people worried and concentrating on just how to pay NEXT MONTH'S bills. And of course the uberwealthy Banksters don't worry about it - they just hire someone to make sure the bill is paid. Good point. And the false analogy between European Hellthcare and the U.S. is just that -- false. You're right. It is a false analogy. You cannot compare the healthcare costs of a country smaller than New York City with that of a country as large as the United States regardless of the other issues. Calling Ron Paul an isolationist is like calling your neighbor a hermit because he doesn't come over and break your window - unknown Jesus said, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do. Evangelical Fundinuts say, "kill them all who will not bow down to the Zionist Jew." - F.A. Hayek Fan
At the height of depression there were 20 million men out of work. Most women still stayed at home. The milk of human kindness was totally lacking. Orphan trains ran monthly out of the eastern cities, to the hinterland for people looking for free labor.
We're headed there again - that's why DHS is buying so much ammo. Rather that fix the problems they are getting ready to slaughter people. the area of Texas is 268,820 sq miles (696,241 km²), while the area of France is 260,558 sq miles (674,843 km2) Read more: wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Tex...than_France#ixzz1u7eRL86T Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson When I mentioned comparing healthcare to a country the size of NYC I wasn't thinking of France, I was thinking of Sweden and I was thinking more population wise than land. My apologies for the poor wording. However, I was still wrong. I should have said New York metropolitan area. Sweden has a population of about 9.4 million while NYC has a population of 8.2 million. The NYC metropolitan area population is 18 million.
Calling Ron Paul an isolationist is like calling your neighbor a hermit because he doesn't come over and break your window - unknown Jesus said, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do. Evangelical Fundinuts say, "kill them all who will not bow down to the Zionist Jew." - F.A. Hayek Fan
No blood, no foul. For the heck of it, I just checked Mexico D.F.'s population: the latest guesstimate is 21.2M. A city of the haves and have less than nothings. I can't blame them for trying to GTF outta there. (D.T. would probably be correct also.) Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” —Samuel Adams America: Israel's Handmaiden
Cell phones know borders. Twenty years ago crossing the Rio Grande to visit the Cadillac Bar our friend's cell shut down half-way across the river. Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” —Samuel Adams America: Israel's Handmaiden
As with insurance, as long as the states and the cities control the telecommunications that are available to us; we will be screwed royally.
Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson Seems to me. We are paying 120 for three phones and some limits which we never reach - I think. I would like to know more about the Verison router that you can connect several internet devices to for 60/mo. of course the I devices need to be hifi range. I have no phone. That is the Best Plan I have come across, Thanks C. Me too, I thought of this as posting, and scalability what counts in these comparisons, and this is not always easy to evaluate.. Ha. Got you all beat. I PAY NOTHING, not one farthing, ever. I have no phone. I have no cell phone and I do not have cable. So, there. ;-) Do you have a computer???? O never mind. I don't know why you Commies hang around here. Shouldn't you go and fire some workers and increase productivity???
Thanks A deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” —Samuel Adams America: Israel's Handmaiden
Keep in mind, this is for my FRENCH cell phone plan that's based in France,
#2. To: Cynicom, all (#1)
#3. To: Lod (#2)
#4. To: tom007 (#0)
#5. To: Cynicom (#3)
#6. To: tom007 (#0)
#7. To: Cynicom (#1)
Keep in mind, this is for my FRENCH cell phone plan that's based in France,
#8. To: Original_Intent (#7)
#9. To: F.A. Hayek Fan, Tom007, all (#6)
Wireless companies in the United States have to build-out a network for the entire United States. Those costs are massive in comparison to the costs French cell phone companies. That all figures in to the amount they charge their customers.
#10. To: Cynicom (#8)
I can recall during the 1930s when we HAD NO MONTHLY BILLS. None, nada.
#11. To: Original_Intent (#9)
However, U.S. providers have economy of scale. The real question is what is the real cost per user? Yes, U.S. providers have to have a larger network but they also have a much greater number of customers.
#12. To: Original_Intent (#10)
And of course the uberwealthy Banksters don't worry about it - they just hire someone to make sure the bill is paid.
#13. To: Cynicom (#12)
Orphan trains ran monthly out of the eastern cities, to the hinterland for people looking for free labor.
"ALL ABOARD!"
#14. To: F.A. Hayek Fan, 4 (#11)
France is not tiny at all - from wiki -
#15. To: Lod (#14)
(Edited)
#16. To: F.A. Hayek Fan, 4 (#15)
(Edited)
#17. To: tom007 (#0)
(Edited)
#18. To: Eric Stratton, 4 (#17)
#19. To: Lod (#18)
#20. To: Eric Stratton (#19)
#21. To: Eric Stratton (#19)
Right now I'm paying $40/mo. for unlimited calling, texting, and data. That's not bad.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" 
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#22. To: Cynicom (#1)
I PAY NOTHING, not one farthing, ever.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#23. To: F.A. Hayek Fan (#6)
I have no idea how much we should or shouldn't be paying but I believe that the author makes a huge mistake in trying to compare payment amounts in a very small country like France with the payment amounts in a country as large as th
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#24. To: Original_Intent (#7)
Keep in mind, this is for my FRENCH cell phone plan that's based in France,
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#25. To: Cynicom (#8)
I can recall during the 1930s when we HAD NO MONTHLY BILLS. None, nada.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#26. To: All (#25)
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#27. To: Artisan (#4)
T-mobile actually has a great international plan. about $65 a month for unlimited calls in the u.s. and many countries internationally including N & S. America, europe & more. That is very unusual & much cheaper than days past of landline rates.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
#28. To: tom007 (#21)
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