Topic 'Re: The Europeans got it right' in forum '' - dslreports.com http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18023064 en Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:19:04 EDT Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:19:04 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18027506 said by karlmarx:

The fact that your phone isn't tied to a provider is a HUGE benefit to the consumer. And as a part of that, the providers don't lock you in.Not true, unless I'm misunderstanding your post. If you want a unlocked phone, then indeed you pay it full price. However, if you want a $400 phone for $50, then your GSM provider:
- simlock and providerlock the phone they send you
- add a 12 or 24 month additional commitment to your contract

For those getting new contracts, it also usually requires 24month commitments to have the best deals (for exemple, idf you get 24 month contract instead of 12, you get 30 SMS free per month, etc...)

Regardless of those limitations, I still prefer the GSM approach to lock your contract to a SIM rather than to a phone. If I somehow break my phone (actually, I passed my old siemens through the washing machine, results not cool :mad:), I just take the SIM out and pop it into and old backup phone, and I'm back in business.

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"the two most abundant things in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity." (Harlan Ellison)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18027506 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:13:17 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18026271 said by roamer1:

Unfortunately, this is not true...no major US carrier (with the possible exception of Cingular, who I know used to do this IF you didn't mind losing free mobile-to-mobile) will sell new postpaid service without a contract even if you bring your own phone.I bought a phone outright from Cingular in 2004 and retained free mobile-to-mobile.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18026271 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:42:49 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18025679 --
(sig was too long)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18025679 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 01:01:49 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024994 said by karlmarx:

The problem in the US is that we didn't choose a good standard. GSM is a worldwide standard, and if the megacorps weren't so greedy here, we would have the benefits of the european system.Two of the four major US carriers are GSM... ;)

IMO, the major problems with the US wireless market aren't the fault of the hodgepodge of technologies the US has -- many Caribbean and Latin American countries, Israel, New Zealand, China, and quite a few other places have both GSM and CDMA, and in some cases even iDEN too. Weak regulation, the "control freak" mentality exhibited by some carriers (namely VZW), American technophobia, and the like are more likely to blame.

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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024994 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:20:52 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024956 said by karlmarx:

my experience in the UK taught me that most people do prepaidIn the US, something like 80% of wireless users are on postpaid with only 20% on prepaid, while in most of the rest of the world, prepaid users make up half or more of total subs. A lot of this is the fault of US carriers, who for the most part treat prepaid customers like third-class scum, charging much higher per-minute rates and offering little or nothing in the way of data features besides ringtones. Heck, Sprint doesn't even sell prepaid under its own brand and, aside from a short stint in Wal*Mart, never has!

-SC
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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024956 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:14:36 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024899 said by jervin123:

Also atleast us GSM/ 3GSM users don't have to pay royalties to Qualcom :DQualcomm still gets royalties from UMTS, just not as much as they do from CDMA2000.

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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024899 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:06:53 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024892 said by pnh102:

No carrier requires you to get a contract provided you are willing to pay full price for the phone like they do in Europe.Unfortunately, this is not true...no major US carrier (with the possible exception of Cingular, who I know used to do this IF you didn't mind losing free mobile-to-mobile) will sell new postpaid service without a contract even if you bring your own phone.

-SC
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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024892 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:06:19 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024532 http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18024532 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:55:46 EDT Re: The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18023757 said by karlmarx:

The fact that your phone isn't tied to a provider is a HUGE benefit to the consumer.Not always. You cannot take a Verizon phone to Cingular and vice versa. For most people I know, this isn't a big deal because by the time they need to upgrade a phone, their current phone is so beat up anyway that they have no desire to retain it.
said by karlmarx:

And as a part of that, the providers don't lock you in.
They don't lock you in here either. No carrier requires you to get a contract provided you are willing to pay full price for the phone like they do in Europe. For most people, contracts are not an issue at all, especially when they can get a phone for free.
said by karlmarx:

The problem in the US is that we didn't choose a good standard. GSM is a worldwide standard, and if the megacorps weren't so greedy here, we would have the benefits of the european system.
CDMA-based data standards are far superior to most GSM-based data solutions. Even current 3G GSM solutions are based in part on how CDMA does things currently. Furthermore, more countries now have cell phone providers which offer CDMA-based service in addition to GSM-based offerings.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/Re-The-Europeans-got-it-right-18023757 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:30:43 EDT The Europeans got it right http://www.dslreports.com/forum/The-Europeans-got-it-right-18023064
The problem in the US is that we didn't choose a good standard. GSM is a worldwide standard, and if the megacorps weren't so greedy here, we would have the benefits of the european system.
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Stick it to the MAN. Support your local torrent sites. Proudly providing 100mb of upstream for all your TV, Movie, and MP3 needs.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/The-Europeans-got-it-right-18023064 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 16:11:58 EDT