Comments on: How location-based apps are dead in the water until someone fixes the extortionate rates of roaming charges http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/ Covering The Great Wireless North Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:36:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: lsywlw00 http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1603 lsywlw00 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:16:26 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1603 balenciaga chloe and lv handbag <br><a href="http://www.lookhandbag.com" rel="nofollow">www.lookhandbag.com</a> balenciaga chloe and lv handbag
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]]> By: voip_usb_internet_phone http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1591 voip_usb_internet_phone Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:15 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1591 Yep! I was agreed, I'll keep in touch to your blog. Yep! I was agreed, I'll keep in touch to your blog.

]]> By: Colin_Pye http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1540 Colin_Pye Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:16:55 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1540 Don't forget about the joy of non-roaming within this country!<br><br>I'm near Halifax, in Nova Scotia. Let's say I go and visit a friend in Vancouver. If I call their cell from my cell, I pay for a local call. That's where the good news ends.<br><br>If they call me back, and I answer, they get billed for a long distance call to Halifax. To add insult to injury, I also get charged for a long distance call, from Halifax (where their call ended up) to my phone in Vancouver! If I don't answer, and it goes to voice mail, they still have long distance charges to Halifax, and I would get long distance charges to Halifax to pick up the voice mail.<br><br>There was a way around it, before the carriers decided to get rid of it. The person calling the phone from another area would dial a "roamer number", generally one of the local cellular exchanges, and 7626 (it spells out ROAM). You would get a second dial tone, where you dial the 10-digit phone number, and if the phone is in the local calling area, your call rings through to the cell phone, all at local non-long-distance calling rates. If you aren't in range, the call doesn't go through.<br><br>There was another side effect. If a friend from home had a great long-distance package, they could make a long-distance call to a roamer number where you were visiting, and you would just get charged your regular airtime charges, with the caller picking up any applicable long distance charges.<br><br>As my use of past tense suggests, the cell companies got rid of the roamer numbers, so that if I were in Vancouver, someone in the same room could call me, and the phone company would collect not one, but two long distance charges for a local call!<br><br>I recently had a call with a Customer Service person about just this sort of thing, and they just couldn't understand why one wouldn't be happy to pay two long-distance charges for a single local call. Their response was "We don't have roaming charges within Canada any more, so why should we have that roaming thing?" They also thought it was fair and just that if I called you, it would be a local call, but if you called me, we *BOTH* would have to pay long distance to the other side of the country, even if we were in the same room! I don't know where they find those rocket scientists/brain surgeons/other really smart people to fill their customer service positions. Don't forget about the joy of non-roaming within this country!

I'm near Halifax, in Nova Scotia. Let's say I go and visit a friend in Vancouver. If I call their cell from my cell, I pay for a local call. That's where the good news ends.

If they call me back, and I answer, they get billed for a long distance call to Halifax. To add insult to injury, I also get charged for a long distance call, from Halifax (where their call ended up) to my phone in Vancouver! If I don't answer, and it goes to voice mail, they still have long distance charges to Halifax, and I would get long distance charges to Halifax to pick up the voice mail.

There was a way around it, before the carriers decided to get rid of it. The person calling the phone from another area would dial a “roamer number”, generally one of the local cellular exchanges, and 7626 (it spells out ROAM). You would get a second dial tone, where you dial the 10-digit phone number, and if the phone is in the local calling area, your call rings through to the cell phone, all at local non-long-distance calling rates. If you aren't in range, the call doesn't go through.

There was another side effect. If a friend from home had a great long-distance package, they could make a long-distance call to a roamer number where you were visiting, and you would just get charged your regular airtime charges, with the caller picking up any applicable long distance charges.

As my use of past tense suggests, the cell companies got rid of the roamer numbers, so that if I were in Vancouver, someone in the same room could call me, and the phone company would collect not one, but two long distance charges for a local call!

I recently had a call with a Customer Service person about just this sort of thing, and they just couldn't understand why one wouldn't be happy to pay two long-distance charges for a single local call. Their response was “We don't have roaming charges within Canada any more, so why should we have that roaming thing?” They also thought it was fair and just that if I called you, it would be a local call, but if you called me, we *BOTH* would have to pay long distance to the other side of the country, even if we were in the same room! I don't know where they find those rocket scientists/brain surgeons/other really smart people to fill their customer service positions.

]]> By: tony montana http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1536 tony montana Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:45:01 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1536 Although the rates are still crap rogers introduced travel packs for roaming that make the rates a little better (the 25MB you mentioned would be 100$ and then 4$/mb over) Although the rates are still crap rogers introduced travel packs for roaming that make the rates a little better (the 25MB you mentioned would be 100$ and then 4$/mb over)

]]> By: cedriccanu http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1531 cedriccanu Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:28:23 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1531 One friend did get data with a prepaid account. It had required to contact the regulator to intervene. I just us postpaid with no contract. Rogers charge me for every thing by the minute even sms from them. I always get two when I get a voice mail. They act like bandits. One friend did get data with a prepaid account. It had required to contact the regulator to intervene. I just us postpaid with no contract. Rogers charge me for every thing by the minute even sms from them. I always get two when I get a voice mail. They act like bandits.

]]> By: jmccallum http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1523 jmccallum Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:48:22 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1523 Might want to check out our site <a href="http://www.roamforce.com" rel="nofollow">www.roamforce.com</a> for Carrier International SIM Cards to reduce costs when roaming to solve this exact problem. (full disclosure - i am the product manager for RoamForce) Might want to check out our site http://www.roamforce.com for Carrier International SIM Cards to reduce costs when roaming to solve this exact problem. (full disclosure – i am the product manager for RoamForce)

]]> By: Thedailyreviewer http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1521 Thedailyreviewer Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:03:52 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1521 Hi!<br><br>Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 mobile Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at <a href="http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/mobile/2" rel="nofollow">http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/mobile/2</a><br><br>You can claim your Top 100 Blogs Award here : <a href="http://thedailyreviewer.com/pages/badges/mobile" rel="nofollow">http://thedailyreviewer.com/pages/badges/mobile</a><br><br>P.S. This is a one-time notice to let you know your blog was included in one of our Top 100 Blog categories. You might get notices if you are listed in two or more categories.<br><br>P.P.S. If for some reason you want your blog removed from our list, just send an email to <a href="mailto:angelina@thedailyreviewer.com" rel="nofollow">angelina@thedailyreviewer.com</a> with the subject line "REMOVE" and the link to your blog in the body of the message.<br><br>Cheers!<br><br>Angelina Mizaki<br>Selection Committee President<br>The Daily Reviewer<br><a href="http://thedailyreviewer.com" rel="nofollow">http://thedailyreviewer.com</a> Hi!

Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 mobile Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/mobile/2

You can claim your Top 100 Blogs Award here : http://thedailyreviewer.com/pages/badges/mobile

P.S. This is a one-time notice to let you know your blog was included in one of our Top 100 Blog categories. You might get notices if you are listed in two or more categories.

P.P.S. If for some reason you want your blog removed from our list, just send an email to angelina@thedailyreviewer.com with the subject line “REMOVE” and the link to your blog in the body of the message.

Cheers!

Angelina Mizaki
Selection Committee President
The Daily Reviewer
http://thedailyreviewer.com

]]> By: Monday Morning Mobile Catchup – September 14/09 | Mobile Strategy http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1520 Monday Morning Mobile Catchup – September 14/09 | Mobile Strategy Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:00:05 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1520 [...] How location-based apps are dead in the water until someone fixes the extortionate rates of roaming ... [...] [...] How location-based apps are dead in the water until someone fixes the extortionate rates of roaming … [...]

]]> By: Dan222 http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1518 Dan222 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:30:50 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1518 Well, if there are countries out there with unlimited postpaid data plans, some enterprising hostel or travel agent would be smart to sign up and then rent SIMs out by the week. It might even work with limited plans as long as the network can properly report data usage and deposits can be worked out. <br><br>If it works for cars, then why not SIMs?<br><br>Too bad muni-wifi never really panned out. Well, if there are countries out there with unlimited postpaid data plans, some enterprising hostel or travel agent would be smart to sign up and then rent SIMs out by the week. It might even work with limited plans as long as the network can properly report data usage and deposits can be worked out.

If it works for cars, then why not SIMs?

Too bad muni-wifi never really panned out.

]]> By: tpurves http://wirelessnorth.ca/2009/09/08/how-location-based-apps-are-dead-in-the-water-until-someone-fixes-the-extortionate-rates-of-roaming-charges/comment-page-1/#comment-1517 tpurves Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:14:50 +0000 http://wirelessnorth.ca/?p=677#comment-1517 Not as easy as you'd think. Many countries (Canada included) offer no pre-paid SIM cards or other prepaid options with data. Not much help if you are in country for a few days or a week but the shortest data plan you can buy is a one year contract. Not as easy as you'd think. Many countries (Canada included) offer no pre-paid SIM cards or other prepaid options with data. Not much help if you are in country for a few days or a week but the shortest data plan you can buy is a one year contract.

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