"Rip off" Britain again

[roblpm]

This must be one of those elusive "benefits" we were promised. Pity it only applies to telecom providers.

Well I am totally anti brexit etc etc.

But truck drivers are getting a raise.

Oops. Is that politics?

 

[roblpm]

... were they as cheap as all other providers and they gave away roaming on top for free, or was it priced into the contract?

Well I have had 3 at work for 15 years. No more expensive. And I am typing this sitting in Bogota, Colombia on my free roaming. So really I think its just a commercial decision. Off to Puerto Rico and the USA on my roaming on the way back to UK. Didn't include Mexico at Christmas though.

 

[savageseadog]

It's no Rip off, users are being charge for the cost of providing international telecomms services instead of domestic users subsidising roamers. It's a benefit of B.

 

[oldgit]

You're not allowed to point out the elephant in the room! ... it's against the forum rules.

and the freedom to pay 20 % extra on any boat purchased or sold , perhaps somebody can explain if that agreement with Australia mentioned boats at all and the cost of shipping it back 10 thousand miles.
Colleague recently lost a sale on his boat. Buyer flew over from Eire viewed the boat , price agreed hands shaken, cost of shipping/ and dates sorted.
Then a phone call , got to add £15K "tax" to price to get it out of UK into EU, will seller drop the price to cover this.
Free at Last.

 

[Paulg25]

Seem to be a lot of people around who want something for nothing. Free phone roaming and advert free forums and television come to mind! Do you share your wifi with your neighbours? I bet you have a password on it.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

It's no Rip off, users are being charge for the cost of providing international telecomms services instead of domestic users subsidising roamers. It's a benefit of B.

Actually, they calculated that it costs the telecoms companies next to nothing as the Brit visitors to the EU cancel out the EU visitors to the UK - so the overall network load remained the same ... there was also a 3 month limit on roaming to prevent abuse and the networks themselves were already capable of servicing foreign sims as the technology was all the same. It was just configuration and billing so the EU legislated to stop them charging for it .... the same as they ruled that LHD/RHD was just a configuration like engine/transmission and banned surcharges on that too.

Well I have had 3 at work for 15 years. No more expensive. And I am typing this sitting in Bogota, Colombia on my free roaming. So really I think its just a commercial decision. Off to Puerto Rico and the USA on my roaming on the way back to UK. Didn't include Mexico at Christmas though.

The EU roaming rule was that you can use the data, text and phone call quotas from your contract in another EU country as if you were at home. 3 caps your data limit (12Gb) and does not allow the use of a mobile hotspot unless you pay extra or have an unlimited data plan.

In our Go Roam in Europe destinations, you can use up to 12GB of your data allowance at no extra cost. Any usage over this fair use limit but within your allowance is subject to a surcharge. There are no fair use limits for calls made to standard landline or mobile numbers or texts sent within our Go Roam in Europe destinations, or back to the UK.

If you're on a plan with Unlimited data, you can use your device as a Personal Hotspot when roaming in the EU. If you're on an Essential plan, you can change your plan or buy an Add-on if you want to use your device as a Personal Hotspot.

About Go Roam - About Go Roam - - Support - Three

Their prices do indeed seem to be comparable, but under the EU deal an unlimited contract means unlimited abroad as well, not capped to a fair use data limit. 12 Gb is not too shabby though ... not a bad provider now free EU roaming is getting killed off.

 

[savageseadog]

Actually, they calculated that it costs the telecoms companies next to nothing as the Brit visitors to the EU cancel out the EU visitors to the UK - so the overall network load remained the same ... there was also a 3 month limit on roaming to prevent abuse and the networks themselves were already capable o

Errrrrrrrrrrr,................the international network is therefore carrying data from the EU to Britain and from Britain to the EU it therefore does not "cancel out". The infrastructure is not free and bandwidth costs money. In any case there is competition so people are free to Change network.

 

[Povremeni pomorac]

Seem to be a lot of people around who want something for nothing. Free phone roaming and advert free forums and television come to mind! Do you share your wifi with your neighbours? I bet you have a password on it.

Actually, we do share it. We're with BT and their hubs, as a separate service, broadcast BTWIFI to any one near enough to use it.

 

[Povremeni pomorac]

I swapped to 3 a year ago. Free roaming still. 10GB data IIRC and all for £8/month. The only problem was that the signal at home was poor but as WiFi calling is included, it's not an issue. With Vodafone one had to pay extra to get WiFi calling.

 

[Paulg25]

Actually, we do share it. We're with BT and their hubs, as a separate service, broadcast BTWIFI to any one near enough to use it.

But they are paying BT for the facility.

 

[awol]

But they are paying BT for the facility.

Goodness! I thought it was like Netflix where only one person actually pays and the rest use their log-in.

 

[savageseadog]

Seem to be a lot of people around who want something for nothing. Free phone roaming and advert free forums and television come to mind! Do you share your wifi with your neighbours? I bet you have a password on it.

Yes. I want to set up one of these telecom companies, it costs absolutely nothing and all the calls I charge for.

Alternatively, I'll set up a charity telecom company, costs me nothing and all my users have free data and phone calls.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Seem to be a lot of people around who want something for nothing. Free phone roaming and advert free forums and television come to mind! Do you share your wifi with your neighbours? I bet you have a password on it.

I'd happily pay for roaming if the charge reflected the true cost.

I use AdBlock on any forum that is silly about advertising. Generally they're getting better because they seem to employing some grownups, and currently I only block one.

TV, gave up on it a couple of years ago.

Wifi, yes, have done, once for several years but currently the only two neighbours in range share our passwords to cover network problems. Pretty safe with a guest user facility on a decent router.

 

[JNKScot]

... were they as cheap as all other providers and they gave away roaming on top for free, or was it priced into the contract?

Three contract SIM, which we still use, started at £9 a month in 2015, now £11 a month. inc. VAT, one month rolling contract; unlimited calls; unlimited texts; unlimited data, subject to "Fair Use"; tethering; free roaming in IIRC 48 countries.

Unsurprisingly, no longer available on those terms

 

[[3889]]

It's no Rip off, users are being charge for the cost of providing international telecomms services instead of domestic users subsidising roamers. It's a benefit of B.

That explains why we have to pay extra to access overseas websites then, using 'international telecoms'(??). Oh, hang on....

 

[Sandy]

I've just had a message from my Portuguese phone sim provider Meo. They say that although UK is now outside the EU, their phone prices will continue as before and there will be no increase in charges for UK calls or data.
Last month I had a message from GiffGaff my UK sim provider that because Britain is now outside the EU and costs are higher to access Europe they will introduce roaming charges for all calls and data abroad.
Why do we put up with this rip off?

We live in a free market, suppliers charge what will give them most profit for their shareholders.

 

[awol]

We live in a free market, suppliers charge what will give them most profit for their shareholders.

..... unless a benevolent power limits their ability to rip off their customers.

 

[bedouin]

I've just had a message from my Portuguese phone sim provider Meo. They say that although UK is now outside the EU, their phone prices will continue as before and there will be no increase in charges for UK calls or data.
Last month I had a message from GiffGaff my UK sim provider that because Britain is now outside the EU and costs are higher to access Europe they will introduce roaming charges for all calls and data abroad.
Why do we put up with this rip off?

GiffGaff have recently massively increased their prices to everyone within UK - no need to stick with them as there are plenty of alternatives.

 

[pvb]

GiffGaff have recently massively increased their prices to everyone within UK - no need to stick with them as there are plenty of alternatives.

Strange, but I hadn't noticed that. I've been using giffgaff for many years. 3 years ago, a £10 goodybag gave me 4GB of data. 2 years ago, it was the same. Last year, a £10 goodybag gave me 7GB of data. This year, a £10 goodybag gives me 10GB of data. I can't see any evidence of prices being "massively increased" - quite the opposite.

 

[bedouin]

Strange, but I hadn't noticed that. I've been using giffgaff for many years. 3 years ago, a £10 goodybag gave me 4GB of data. 2 years ago, it was the same. Last year, a £10 goodybag gave me 7GB of data. This year, a £10 goodybag gives me 10GB of data. I can't see any evidence of prices being "massively increased" - quite the opposite.

Current GiffGaff rates are 25p/min for calls, 10p/text and 10p/MB. That is pretty much double what they charged 18months ago. A cheap deal such as Asda Mobile is 4p/min, 4p/text, 4p/MB and the cheapest of all is 1p/min, 1p/Text, 1p/MB but has a minimum spend.