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Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

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Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#61

Post by cortesoft »

HatchedLake721 wrote: post #54
qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

Is it actually different tariffs or do they offer free “social” data? If they do offer it, that’s not against net neutrality unless they throttle other traffic.

I think zero rating is considered a violation of net neutrality by most people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-rating

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#62

Post by newsbinator »

chmars wrote: post #59
newsbinator wrote: post #58

Not that it's Skype's fault they're getting throttled, but I wish I had an alternative to Skype. I haven't found a service that lets me dial worldwide (particularly USA/Canada) at anywhere near the rates Skype offers.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

In North America, it's unusual to ask for a business person's WhatsApp or Telegram or whatever. These contacts are not often published or shared for work.

It's more common to receive their landline extension or cell phone number.

When establishing a business relationship, saving a few cents by trying to figure out mutual VoIP options isn't worth the friction and lost opportunities.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#63

Post by chipperyman573 »

newsbinator wrote: post #58

Not that it's Skype's fault they're getting throttled, but I wish I had an alternative to Skype. I haven't found a service that lets me dial worldwide (particularly USA/Canada) at anywhere near the rates Skype offers.

Fwiw Google voice has free US calling and pretty decent reache rates

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#64

Post by konschubert »

viraptor wrote: post #53
KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like the mobile companies got Facebook to subsidize consumers' phone bills. Is that good or bad for everyone involved?

Unfortunately we're unlikely to know if it's: - cheaper social - more expensive non-social - combination of those two I really don't expect it's the first option, unless they're really in a race to the bottom. The third option makes sense even without subsidies - offer something "nice" to typical customers and offset it with other traffic.

There is no actual difference between those three options.

The only thing that matters is that Whatsapp messenger is cheaper to use than, for example, signal messenger.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#65

Post by artemisbot »

newsbinator wrote: post #62
chmars wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

In North America, it's unusual to ask for a business person's WhatsApp or Telegram or whatever. These contacts are not often published or shared for work. It's more common to receive their landline extension or cell phone number. When establishing a business relationship, saving a few cents by trying to figure out mutual VoIP options isn't worth the friction and lost opportunities.

Aren't Whatsapp and telegram both tied to your cell phone number though?

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#66

Post by et-al »

chmars wrote: post #59
newsbinator wrote: post #58

Not that it's Skype's fault they're getting throttled, but I wish I had an alternative to Skype. I haven't found a service that lets me dial worldwide (particularly USA/Canada) at anywhere near the rates Skype offers.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

It's very possible people are calling relatives or friends whose landline offers a more reliable connection than their internet.

And if having a conversation, I'd rather have an uninterrupted voice conversation than a mediocre video call that drops every 3 minutes.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#67

Post by et-al »

artemisbot wrote: post #65
newsbinator wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In North America, it's unusual to ask for a business person's WhatsApp or Telegram or whatever. These contacts are not often published or shared for work. It's more common to receive their landline extension or cell phone number. When establishing a business relationship, saving a few cents by trying to figure out mutual VoIP options isn't worth the friction and lost opportunities.

Aren't Whatsapp and telegram both tied to your cell phone number though?

The use case is: traveler in _______ country uses Skype to call local numbers. Be it a local restaurant, or a new business contact.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#68

Post by Tor3 »

chmars wrote: post #59
newsbinator wrote: post #58

Not that it's Skype's fault they're getting throttled, but I wish I had an alternative to Skype. I haven't found a service that lets me dial worldwide (particularly USA/Canada) at anywhere near the rates Skype offers.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

When I'm in Japan and want to talk with my insurance company, bank, or airline over on the other side of the world, there's just one way: A phone number. Which is the (main) reason I'm still using Skype. There are other, and sometimes better, alternatives for video/chat/group chats/photos etc. But still nothing that competes with Skype's phone support, although Skype in general has degenerated a lot since the early days.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#69

Post by Havoc »

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

Local CDN im guessing. We had the same thing in South Africa. For a while you could get 90% discounted local only data.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#70

Post by [deleted] »

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

[deleted]
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