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10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

http://www.pcworld.com/article/17062..._carriers.html

This guy brings up 10 great things that need to be fixed.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

I'm surprised he stopped at 10. I think we can go on for at least another 40.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

42 is usually the right amount.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

I like the ten list; it reminds me of the charges against the King in the Declaration of Independence, except no remedy is proposed.

It's amazing that American capitalism is so effective in making things cheaper in many ways, but not for this one.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

simple, the frequencies are monopoly bound...

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

I swear to god I am going to email every MP in Canada with this article...it applies so well to our situation too.

Sometimes I feel like Rogers is robbing me to make a profit and keep good devices from coming to Canada quickly. It's like living in the dark ages almost!!!

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

I was about to write that American wireless providers look like saints compared to the Canadian "gang of three". Canadians on average pay 60% more than Americans.

North America needs more competition, by companies willing to charge European prices and bear the wrath of the Big Guys.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

Originally Posted by qole (Post 314923)

We need to make some sort of deal... You might want our service prices, but we want your hardware prices :D

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

The biggest problem is bound up in the one thing he mentions in the article, and that's the fact that the cellular companies take all that insane cash they make and feed it through lobbyists who in turn use our hard earned money to make congress walk all over us.

Oddly though, one of my forum members just posted an article telling how the FCC chief is going to finally go after the cellular providers. And I applaud him for doing it. While it took him a while, he's had a lot on his plate, trying to sort out the mess the last FCC chief left him. Plus I'm pretty sure he'll succeed, since the man is very smart and has a set of cast iron balls. :)

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

Originally Posted by attila77 (Post 314935)

We need to make some sort of deal... You might want our service prices, but we want your hardware prices :D

Fair enough. I've bought an MP3 player for a German before; the same device was 50% more in Germany for some reason... :confused:

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

Originally Posted by qole (Post 314923)

North America needs more competition, by companies willing to charge European prices and bear the wrath of the Big Guys.

You don't really want that: most if not all of the 10 points apply to Europe as well (especially, but not exclusively, if you take into account roaming charges).

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

One thing I hate?

They never have the handsets I want (the bleeding edge ones). Just a couple of months ago I had to go to the Nokia Store in Chicago and buy a N97 for a friend because we were sure it wasn't going to be here for a long time. Heck, they are just announcing the incoming launch of the 5800 Xpress...

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

In the US, the FCC and FTC are the largest culprits for our situation. They are supposed to be our watchdogs over industry, and prevent monopolies (overt and de facto) from forming. They don't do their jobs.

Companies deserve to make a profit... but consumers deserve fair treatment.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Do you get to keep your number when you switch cariers in USA?

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

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Originally Posted by ColdFusion (Post 315040)

Do you get to keep your number when you switch cariers in USA?

After much fighting for years, we finally do... but they don't necessarily make it easy.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

I think it was a token appeasement.

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Originally Posted by Texrat (Post 315030)

I never understand why consumers often don't even take their own side in these matters. It seems as if there's an extreme priority to protect big businesses but an intense aversion to protecting small competitors and consumers, at least in the US.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

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Originally Posted by Texrat (Post 315030)

A lot of that was the fault of the previous FCC chief. The new one is going like a madman (or as fast as he can) to correct the previous guy's screwups, intentional or otherwise.

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Companies deserve to make a profit... but consumers deserve fair treatment.

Fully agree.

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Originally Posted by danramos (Post 315103)

Actually, that's not true. The "protect big business at the expense of everyone else" is a montra started by, get this, politicians owned by the big businesses. So the politicians are merely protecting their own, and in some cases, their profits. He who has the biggest pocket book speaks the loudest in Washington. Us little guys are barely heard, since we're just pipsqueeks to be taken advantage of. It's the ultimate example of David vs Goliath, except for the fact that David's repeatedly getting the crap beaten out of him every day. :(

Trust me, I see it all the time in the FOSS world, so I can imagine it's the same or worse out in the regular tech/consumer arena. There's also a prevailing mentality among big companies that, you're just a number, or one among millions. If you leave, you will simply be replaced by someone else. So why care about you? Or as Microsoft says, "We don't want to be the best choice. We want to be the *ONLY* choice." Under Gates they followed the 80% rule, like a lot of companies did. Now just about every big corp has thrown out that rule for the "all and nothing" rule. IE, all for me, nothing for you. Companies thrive under competition, yet it's the one thing they hate the most and will go to some incredible ends to ensure doesn't occur.

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Originally Posted by Lord Raiden (Post 315110)

Nono.. that I get, sadly. What I mean is that I also hear it out of ordinary people too, usually very politically conservative. On the one hand they do that--then on the other, they'll complain outrageously when they individually feel some sort of pinch.. but they still feel justified in that the government shouldn't stick its nose in there to force some sanity on the public's behalf.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by danramos (Post 315127)

My family and my wife's family are both that way. All smart people, but they amaze me by holding such opposing viewpoints without recognizing how self-defeating it is. I daresay that metality is too common and a big reason for why things don't improve.

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Originally Posted by danramos (Post 315127)

Wait, what!? Seriously, I'm all for the government staying out of 99% of our lives, but then there's that 1% where they need to get involved, because if they don't, a lot of bad things will happen in this country. Yeah, the free market can take care of a lot of it, but sometimes the free market just can't correct a problem. Especially if someone successfully forms a monopoly and locks everyone out. That's when the government needs to come in and correct things and restore the market balance. It'd be nice if it corrected itself, but it doesn't always do that.

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Originally Posted by Texrat (Post 315168)

Well, I've found some of that to be the result of both pride and selfishness. Not saying they're openly proud or selfish, but since both pride and selfishness are a part of everyone's nature, the effects of them do flavor our opinions, beliefs, and how we see things. So sometimes those can really distort how we see things, and we overlook what's actually there for our little colored slice of reality.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

I was about to write that American wireless providers look like saints compared to the Canadian "gang of three". Canadians on average pay 60% more than Americans.

North America needs more competition, by companies willing to charge European prices and bear the wrath of the Big Guys.

There was a point where my cousin from Finland, roaming here in Toronto, actually paid LESS for data then I did on my Rogers account. They have gotten better the last little while but cmon...someone roaming from afar getting a better rate than their OWN customer. "Welcome to Rogers, prepare to bend over"

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The one problem with the wireless carriers is they think they are more than they really are. Remember the days when the telco's would only let you rent a phone to use on their network? They wanted the extra money, the extra control, and they fought hard to keep it that way.

Fast forward to today and they are behaving exactly the same way. As far as I am concerned Rogers is my wireless carrier. And that is IT. I do not want Rogers to decide which phones I can buy or use. I do not want Rogers software on my phone. I do not want to have to use Rogers stores or services. They should only provide the wireless.

I want to buy my software from a software company.
I want to buy my cellphone from a manufacturer.
I don't want Rogers messing around in areas that are not their areas of expertige.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden (Post 315177)

Yeah, the free market can take care of a lot of it, but sometimes the free market just can't correct a problem. Especially if someone successfully forms a monopoly and locks everyone out. That's when the government needs to come in and correct things and restore the market balance.

Of course, in this case, it's the government itself that granted the monopolies . . .

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nazrax (Post 315429)

Of course, in this case, it's the government itself that granted the monopolies . . .

Sadly, this is true to some extent. There's a lot of protected monopolies that government helps (through rediculous patents, copyright, contracts, deals, etc.) that are patently anti-consumer and against the public interest.

Re: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers

The article is written from an American (USA) point of view.

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Why do Americans pay five times more for cell phone service than the Dutch?

Netherlands is a small country which has a good network infrastructure, much like Japan's metropolises. During the boom of cellphones (without 3G) there was a lot of competition in the Netherlands. In Japan the same, and still, because Japanese love gadgets.

I think the issue lies also in some kind of lack of competing on the network owners (mobile telcos) while maximizing profit for shareholders.

However as long as people sign on for bad 2 year contracts in a saturated market no wonder they aren't trying to compete with each other. You only need to hook the fish every 2 years, and everyone is hooked already. Deja vu elections.

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If cell phones weren't subsidized, then we'd know how much we're paying for the phone and how much we're paying for wireless services. With the subsidy, we have no idea.

Real Issue: Lack of applying simple mathematics, aka 'mass stupidity'. It is pretty simple to calculate how much you pay for something.

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Carriers and handset makers create these fake limitations for precisely the same reason movie theaters don't let you bring in your own food -- because it creates mini-monopolies that enable gouging on prices. Why do you think 10 cents worth of popcorn costs $4.50 at the megaplex?

The limitations are started because governemnt sells frequencies. The limitations are therefore political based on technical limits. That is why there is not enough competition. The governemnt, via FCC et al, must force limits on those it granted a monopoly position; the network owners.

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In some European countries, this practice is considered anticompetitive and is against the law.

True, but not many.

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I don't know if it was AT&T, Apple or both that decided that the Google Voice app should be banned from the iTunes store, but locking out services that threaten total control is standard operating procedure in the U.S.. wireless carrier industry. Competition and innovation is the last thing carriers want. So they use their ownership of the wireless pipes to block the applications and services that would need to move through those pipes.

The reason of stated example is still investigated, by the FCC. There are many problems and sides of this debate and specific example but in the end its similar to the ethical question of are you allowed to do with your hardware what you want if what you do is within the boundaries of law? Ofcourse, maybe you signed some stupid contract with that 2 year deal...

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Your solution to public opposition is more lobbying

So we must lobby back. Tobaco industries did this too, and slowly but surely they lost. Which is the goal of lobbying even if you are wrong.

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With nearly every netbook, smartbook, eBook reader, GPS device, digital camera and wristwatch poised to potentially support mobile broadband wireless connectivity, the carriers are positioning themselves to seize control of the consumer electronics industry.

They get more control indeed, and are used for always-on products. This is a tool to give certain corporations, including device manufacturers such as Amazon and Apple, more control, while giving citizens less privacy to telcos and government. However because people do not care about this yet we will first collectively experience the downsides of this after which we will learn.

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But all that equipment is useless without access to the airwaves, which are by law owned by the people. And that's what makes the wireless carriers business different from other industries. Companies that are granted licenses to use the publicly owned airwaves should be required by our government to meet certain standards of fairness, equal access and competitiveness. That's not happening right now. It's time to let your state and national politicians know that you want this industry reined in.

Nice post etc but most people don't (want to) understand all this, and this will not change quickly.