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In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

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Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#131

I've got unlimited mobile data for a great price in spain as well. Honestly, I hope the us catches up at some point because software still doesn't even consider it an option - I have to actively fight all my settings so I can get updates, backups, streaming at high quality and the like because the OS considers they should always be done on wifi. Sometimes, the situation has been so absurd that I've had to use the sha…

I remember being really annoyed that there was like a 20 or 50 MB limit for app downloads on the iPhone 3GS when I got it. I had unlimited 3G data, I didn't care how big the application was, just let me download it.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#132

The left side of the chart is a surprising cohort, hardly the usual suspects when it comes to being behind the curve. There’s the US, sure, but it’s actually slightly ahead of Norway, and significantly ahead of both Canada and Japan! You have two Scandinavian countries on opposite ends of the spectrum, two east Asian countries on opposite ends, and even two countries with significantly large landmass (look at Russia…

>You have two Scandinavian countries on opposite ends of the spectrum

The three Scandinavian countries are not really on opposite ends.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#133
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised, that really does boggle the mind.

We do the same thing with internet in the US. E.g., if someone sends me an email, I'm the one that has to pay my email provider for handling it, and I'm the one that has to pay and bandwidth costs to download it from my email provider to my computer. Isn't that how it works elsewhere? If so, what is mind boggling about the US using the same system for other communications networks besides the internet?

In most of the world, the caller used to pay (or maybe still pays in some places?) extra for calling a mobile number. This is easy to arrange and clear to the caller since mobile numbers are in a separate area code range. As I understand, in the US mobile numbers use the same area codes as fixed numbers, so this isn't possible. Receiving a call on a fixed number in the US is still free, I suppose?

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#134
It's a good thing that with EU's "Roam Like at Home" people from Finland can go transfer those 17GB/month in any other EU country, but people from Romania saw the introduction of "national" SIM cards which leave you literally stranded (no signal) when crossing the border. Better roaming for me but not for thee.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a decade ago, SMS messages in the US cost 10 to 25 cents per SMS . You also got charged for spam SMS. Prices were completely disjointed from the reality of underlying costs (zero for the telcos). My college CS professor gave senate testimony on this: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/keshav_testim... (side rant: in the following ten years, the tech giants sweeped in, competed, provided a better serv…

>You also got charged for spam SMS Wait what? They charge you for receiving text messages or am I not reading that right? Do they also charge you to receive phone calls haha?

> Do they also charge you to receive phone calls haha?

Yes, that's how ridiculous the US and Canada systems are

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost everyone I know from Finland has home broadband as well. Mostly due to home computers and less than ideal indoor cell service. There was some switch to 4G for home internet (with mifi/usb dongles) as well, mostly due to aggressive pricing some years back. It was a good alternative to ADSL and cheaper, but became congested once a lot of people started using it. Yet, fiber is much more ubiquitous these days and…

Cell service is excellent throughout Finland. I’ve been in remote parts of Lapland and summer cottages and streamed f1 over 4g. Your mileage may vary but pretty much everywhere I get minimum 3G. Cellular is ubiquitous so unless you’re living in a bunker coverage will be excellent. I believe 100mbit is even a human right here? If you live in a city there’s probably fibre laid down. Anywhere outside unless your neighbo…

>Cell service is excellent throughout Finland.

Sure, but I have 2/4 bars on both of my SIM cards in a ground floor apartment. It's pretty common considering how insulated the walls are. This is why the biggest speed tuneup you can do to your 4G router is running an antenna out of the window.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#137

It's a good thing that with EU's "Roam Like at Home" people from Finland can go transfer those 17GB/month in any other EU country, but people from Romania saw the introduction of "national" SIM cards which leave you literally stranded (no signal) when crossing the border. Better roaming for me but not for thee.

We don't actually get unlimited EU data here. DNA offers 7–15 GB a month (unlimited in the Nordics and the Baltics), Elisa 13–30 GB a month (unlimited in the Nordics and the Baltics) and Telia 4–25 GB a month.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#138
post #128
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wish the US could institute some legal framework against deceptive advertising. Unlimited should mean unlimited, not throttled. If you are offering a 20GB plan, just say you are offering a 20GB plan. I've tried to use a 4G hotspot to setup my laptop and do work in outdoor parks but the number of times I can do that per month is limited.

Legal frameworks are mostly there to help the people / companies with the better lawyers. What you are looking for is competition, and lower barriers to entry.

Do you have any examples of competition leading to more honest advertisements? It seems to me that it mostly leads to a race to the bottom that just optimizes for hiding your dishonesty better.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#139
post #57

UK here. I pay £20/month (USD $26) for unlimited data, voice and SMS. I have two such SIMs, one for the home router (because it's cheaper and faster than FTTC) and another for my phone. Usage varies, but on a busy month the home SIM will see 100-300 GB, mostly for Netflix. The phone SIM sees about 10-30 GB. Speed varies by time of day, but at peak it's 90 Mbit/s down, 20 Mbit/s up. At the slowest times of day it drop…

Who are your providers, and did you have to negotiate these tariffs or do they come as standard offerings? Crucially: how long are you contractually tied to your cell provider?

Unlimited deals are fairly standard in the UK (though the signal in my area is far too slow to consider it).

https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#140

I've got unlimited mobile data for a great price in spain as well. Honestly, I hope the us catches up at some point because software still doesn't even consider it an option - I have to actively fight all my settings so I can get updates, backups, streaming at high quality and the like because the OS considers they should always be done on wifi. Sometimes, the situation has been so absurd that I've had to use the sha…

That's odd, I feel like I'm always fighting my phone to make it stop using data. It's really my top complaint about smartphone apps.

That's how the apps make their money.
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