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xtachx
join:2005-11-19
canada

xtachx to GreenEnvy22

Member

to GreenEnvy22

Re: New Quebec Class Action against Bell, Rogers, Telus, Fido

said by GreenEnvy22:

It is quite insane what they charge. One of our employees recently used 14MB in Africa and had a $2000+ roaming fee.

The annoying thing is, his phone is set to allow data roaming because he is on Rogers 1GB Canada/US data plan. In order for it to work, you need to leave on data roaming. So while most of our staff have it disabled, the staff like him can't. I've asked Rogers to set a cap on our plan for roaming fees, but no, they somehow can't do anything that magical.

I think it's criminal that if he had bought a roaming pack ahead of time, he'd have paid like $100, but now they charge $2000? It's not like when you buy a roaming pack they go negotiate a deal with the the telco in the country you are going to, since they have no idea where you are going. It's just a made up fee.

Not saying Telus is better, but they do have the data roaming feature set up differently. You cannot turn off data roaming for US. (you have to block all data for this).

But the Canada/US data is separate from International Data, and thats a separate package. That is not on by default and you have to turn it on.

This is not ideal as well, but a lot better than Rogers.

The ideal system would be:
1. CDN data
2. US Data roaming
3. International data roaming.

Add/Remove these services from mobile self serve (or using a service code like *123*4# ).

And the rates need to come down.. a LOT. Why is that that if we pay $10, the data roaming rate goes from $5/MB to $1/MB. Why is it not $1/MB to begin with?

Also, why do packs need to be added BEFORE I leave? Thats like taking a guess but being penalized for a wrong guess. We should be able to add the "packs" AFTER the usage. (Like >20MB usage auto-adds the $30 pack for 50c/MB)

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz

MVM

said by xtachx:

Not saying Telus is better, but they do have the data roaming feature set up differently. You cannot turn off data roaming for US. (you have to block all data for this).

Of course you can turn off data roaming on Telus, it's a feature present on most smartphones. The phone itself will refuse to data roam if told to.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

said by Guspaz:

Of course you can turn off data roaming on Telus, it's a feature present on most smartphones. The phone itself will refuse to data roam if told to.

While I'm think he meant on the provider side of things, it's worthwhile to point out that you can't turn data roaming off if the phone doesn't think it's roaming even though it actually is.

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz

MVM

Does the phone think it's on TELUS (and show that as the network) when it's in the US? I mean, unless AT&T's towers are advertising themselves as TELUS, I don't see how this could be a problem.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

said by Guspaz:

Does the phone think it's on TELUS (and show that as the network) when it's in the US? I mean, unless AT&T's towers are advertising themselves as TELUS, I don't see how this could be a problem.

It has nothing to do with AT&T and everything to do with how Telus' PRL treats AT&T.

whaat
@telus.net

whaat to xtachx

Anon

to xtachx
said by xtachx:

Not saying Telus is better, but they do have the data roaming feature set up differently. You cannot turn off data roaming for US. (you have to block all data for this).

My telus cellular smart phone has data(internet) told to not roam. Even the phone part is told not to roam.
Last time I was near the border while still in Canada and it couldn't see a Telus tower it popped up a message of can't connect since you are now in 'Merica. Was just a dead spot for Telus reception.

But still better than the Rogers customer last month on the hill side in White Rock cbc news story, who pretty well refused to turn off roaming since her phone would no longer work at home. And Rogers loves people who can't seem to understand that a little inconvenience is better than hundreds of dollars in b.s. roaming charges.

Heres the simple way carriers deal with roaming. The portion of the U.S. cell array that points at Canada has a roaming agreement for border issues. Same for Canadian towers. Phone as a minimum and data at a justifiable rate or data blocked unless you click through the confirm data roaming charges screen.

All it takes is for a lawsuit to pry the actual money that Rogers pays to the U.S. carrier out into the open. Blacked out portions included.
There is a hidden war that canada is purposely losing to the U.S. when it comes to cell towers and people complaining about roaming along the border. "Your countries tower signal is too powerful and since my phone is in roaming mode by default, I cry when the bill comes." 300 million versus 35 million.

I think it was on this forum about someone whose kid thought they were on home Wifi for their phone data, except that the smartphone popped back onto the cell network due to a weak wifi signal. And call support was useless for explaining the issue with how a weak wifi will shift the phone onto cellular mode.
Cloneman
join:2002-08-29
Montreal

1 edit

Cloneman to Guspaz

Member

to Guspaz
said by Guspaz:

said by xtachx:

Not saying Telus is better, but they do have the data roaming feature set up differently. You cannot turn off data roaming for US. (you have to block all data for this).

Of course you can turn off data roaming on Telus, it's a feature present on most smartphones. The phone itself will refuse to data roam if told to.

This is not reliable. A malicious program (or simply a modded nightly android rom with bugs) can accidentally enable data roaming.

When the stakes are as large as they are with data roaming overages, no amount of paranoia is sufficient, and the carriers should do their part an implement proper blocking mechanisms at their level ,if requested by the users.

Most people who get huge data bills probably got them by their own neglect, however everyone should be protected. It doesn't make sense that an accident, for example caused by someone else borrowing your phone (or getting it stolen) for 10-15 minutes can cause thousands of dollars of overages that need to be disputed. Carriers have to allow customers to Opt-out of data roaming at the NETWORK level.
xtachx
join:2005-11-19
canada

xtachx to Guspaz

Member

to Guspaz
said by Guspaz:

said by xtachx:

Not saying Telus is better, but they do have the data roaming feature set up differently. You cannot turn off data roaming for US. (you have to block all data for this).

Of course you can turn off data roaming on Telus, it's a feature present on most smartphones. The phone itself will refuse to data roam if told to.

The problem is, that in case of an error in billing, you are on the hook to pay the bill. If it is blocked by the provider, you are not responsible for paying the data roaming bill - since it was blocked.

It also prevents accidental usage - provider blocks are much more effective than phone blocks.
NefCanuck
join:2007-06-26
Mississauga, ON

NefCanuck to Gone

Member

to Gone
said by Gone:

said by Guspaz:

Does the phone think it's on TELUS (and show that as the network) when it's in the US? I mean, unless AT&T's towers are advertising themselves as TELUS, I don't see how this could be a problem.

It has nothing to do with AT&T and everything to do with how Telus' PRL treats AT&T.

As I own a Telus phone and have been to the US multiple times with it, I can say with certainty that the phone will display that it is on AT&T once it gets out of Telus range and into AT&T's towers and will warn you multiple times that if you use data at that point, you will be subject to roaming fees.

I had celluar data turned off and had no surprises on my bill when I returned to Canada (I only used the phone on wifi hotspots and wifi networks)

The next time I hit the US, I intend to buy a T-Mobile SIM and sign up for a per day data package while I'm there.

NefCanuck