Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today • Hacker News Board

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#231

Post by DrJokepu » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:07 PM UTC

endijs wrote: post #63

This idea was good. But in reality what happened in Latvia was very simple and expected move by telcos - all three of them raised prices for all subscriptions by about 3€-4€ monthly (which is ~30% increase). Yes, now you can feel better while traveling, however everyone now pays extra every single month. For some situation now is better, while others pay for it even if they do not need such freedom. Those who are in…

Generally speaking, the problem with the "just stating facts" argument is that it's impossible to list all relevant facts and by picking which facts to list and which facts not to list, you are editorializing and making subjective judgements, which means it's far from being an objective thing.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#232

Post by matteuan » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:09 PM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #169

danmaz74 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suppose I have an Italian SIM and pay x to call Italian numbers, and 2x to call French ones. If I go to France, with these rules, I think I'll still pay x to call Italian numbers, and 2x to call French ones?

No, while in France you'll pay x to call all EU numbers.

No Symbiote, his assumption is correct. You will pay 2x for calling french numbers, but still x for calling italian numbers. I also tried these days (my operator activated this regulation last week). I went to Italy with the german card and I could call german numbers for free(that's in my contract) but I was spending more to call italian ones (2 cent btw).

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#233

Post by nikon » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:10 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #209

mstade wrote: post #205

This is great, now I can ditch my UK Three SIM that I've had for years simply because they implemented a "feel at home" kind of policy long ago, where roaming within the EU is free. There was always a data limit, and you can't tether your phone to your laptop which was annoying, but it's been great for me who's been travelling in the EU frequently. Now I can drop that extra £30/month cost and don't have to carry extr…

As far as I know, the data limit is whatever your tariff normally gives you - no more, no less. I wouldn't be surprised if the other carriers have a no-tethering-while-roaming rule too.

EE are good with tethering and roaming speeds.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#234

Post by mrweasel » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

dtech wrote: post #178

mrweasel wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition in the Danish market isn't actually health. It's good for the consumers, but the providers are running on extremely low margins compared to pretty much anywhere else. It's basically the world's toughest market for mobile telephony.

This sounds exactly what the free market is always sold on: lowest prices for consumers, only the most effective businesses stay afloat...

True, but the same free market allowed the phone companies to charge exorbitant prices for EU roaming.

Telenor and Telia wanted to merge in Denmark last year, but wasn't allowed to, because it would hurt customers, so the free market isn't really in play anymore.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#235

Post by eXpl0it3r » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:21 PM UTC

geoka9 wrote: post #202

eXpl0it3r wrote: post #176

Here in Switzerland we have some of the highest mobile prices ($30+) [1], yet our mobile providers will not remove the fee like the rest or Europe. Our politician try to enforce every single new EU-law, but when there's once something that would benefit the people, they come up with many excuses why this couldn't be applied and how Switzerland isn't part of the EU and doesn't have to follow through... [1] https://www…

Amazing, $30 is considered high for a mobile plan. In Canada it's the price of the lowest end plan from the lowest end provider. A plan from a big name provider will be at least $60 with capped data.

Is that USD or CAD?

$30 is also among the lower prices you have to pay for a plan in Switzerland. But it's kind of hard to define, since there many variables (data speed, data cap, phone call prices, coverage, etc).

Most people I know are running on $60 to $100 plans.

I'm looking forward to when my company is paying my mobile bill.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#236

Post by tribaal » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:22 PM UTC

eXpl0it3r wrote: post #176

Here in Switzerland we have some of the highest mobile prices ($30+) [1], yet our mobile providers will not remove the fee like the rest or Europe. Our politician try to enforce every single new EU-law, but when there's once something that would benefit the people, they come up with many excuses why this couldn't be applied and how Switzerland isn't part of the EU and doesn't have to follow through... [1] https://www…

That's because Swisscom is very good at lobbying, especially when that means they get to sit on their ass and collect free money for longer.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#237

Post by giomasce » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:27 PM UTC

jahnu wrote: post #93

Retric wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If roaming is free, can't you just use another countries cellphone provider? And if so, it's likely the cheapest country needed to raise rates should people from more expensive areas do so.

No. There are various limits. One of which is you have a limited amount of time you can roam for per year before you have to start paying. It's not too bad though. The real shit loophole is that they don't give you your full data allowance when roaming. It's needlessly complicated of course. Very rough idea: if you get 10gb for €10 a month you can roam for free for 2gb of that.

BTW, the free roaming data will increase in the next years (see second question in https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/faq/frequently...).

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#238

Post by zurn » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:29 PM UTC

dx034 wrote: post #219

watson wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at the most free market of them all with the least regulation: United States. Here using a mobile phone is WAAAY more expensive than in Europe. My US friends always thinks I'm lying when I tell them how little we pay for data in EU.

The size of the country will play a big role. Many European states are densely populated. Germany, for example, has more than 80mln inhabitants while it is smaller than the state of Montana. You won't have reception everywhere in Montana but just covering major highways and the interstate system in the US adds a lot of network costs. The barriers to enter are huge whereas you can easily provide coverage for a large p…

The most sparsely populated EU countries (Sweden & Finland) have good coverage and low prices. And mostly domestic (not foreign-owned) operaotrs.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#239

Post by tim333 » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:31 PM UTC

mamon wrote: post #166

gmac wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a confusopoly[1] and roaming charges (like data overage charges) weren't part of the headline offer, which was generally UNLIMITED calls and texts and a FREE phone when you pay £X per month . Same as 'free' banking in the UK, which is in reality heavily cross-subsidised by the poorest customers paying overdraft penalties. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confusopoly

Roaming is relatively niche, but very expensive product, compared to other telecommunication services, so in my opinion it was fair to charge additional fee for that. Now that EU regulation is in place mobile operators are no longer allowed to charge the additional cost to people actually using roaming, they have to spread it across all their customers. So, net effect will be: poor people who do not use roaming (e.g.…

Sometimes fair. But there have been a lot of cases of people unknowingly using data abroad and getting a bill for like £500 for half a GB of data which would fairly cost maybe £5.

Re: Europe mostly ends mobile roaming fees from today

#240

Post by Thimothy » Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 2:34 PM UTC

mamon wrote: post #166

gmac wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a confusopoly[1] and roaming charges (like data overage charges) weren't part of the headline offer, which was generally UNLIMITED calls and texts and a FREE phone when you pay £X per month . Same as 'free' banking in the UK, which is in reality heavily cross-subsidised by the poorest customers paying overdraft penalties. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confusopoly

Roaming is relatively niche, but very expensive product, compared to other telecommunication services, so in my opinion it was fair to charge additional fee for that. Now that EU regulation is in place mobile operators are no longer allowed to charge the additional cost to people actually using roaming, they have to spread it across all their customers. So, net effect will be: poor people who do not use roaming (e.g.…

Why is expensive? I get that in the times of analog cable, connection centers between different countries networks were cumbersome, and a service that needed to be payed exclusively by those that used it, but these days of interconnected everything?

I have still to see a reason in this thread that justifies the higher prices. If connections between different companies in a country work without significant cost, why is different between (european) countries? Damn, most of the time are the same company! It's price gouging and a racket.