Actually this would be the opposite of the typical anti-European criticisms of anti-business, pro-consumer. This time it's the American company trying to impose something pro-consumer, anti-business onto European businesses. European businesses here are acting American in preferring to maintain a monopoly over the consumer by locking them into a contract.
An embedded SIM was always a bad idea, because that ensured carrier lock-in, thus regressively sending us back to 1991, where carriers started picking different technologies, and making switching impossible.
If all the hardware manufacturers did it, the telecoms people would have little choice but to support it. But it would just take one low-end hardware manufacturer to side with the carriers. None of the phone manufacturers want to annoy their partners though. It may end up being best to put the cellular hardware in a case. This way they don't have to design the splits the way they do and they can save the internal space while giving ultimate carrier freedom. The downside is forcing every iPhone user to have a case and restricting case options to carriers but most seem to use one anyway (87%):
The sim is a piece of ancient technology that now serves only one purpose: locking in a user.
There is no reason why technology in time could use multiple carrier frequencies and either aggregate them or switch between them automatically based on the user's preferences. (E.g. faster but more costly or picking the cheapest route.)
This would facilitate users being able to choose data that suits them. Much in the same way that a person on a budget can choose a bus instead of taking a taxi.
It would also allow companies that roll out more efficient technology to easily obtain new users.
In short: it cuts into the monopolistic behaviours of telcos, it's not a surprise that they don't want to support it.
Actually this would be the opposite of the typical anti-European criticisms of anti-business, pro-consumer. This time it's the American company trying to impose something pro-consumer, anti-business onto European businesses. European businesses here are acting American in preferring to maintain a monopoly over the consumer by locking them into a contract.
How is this Apple SIM pro-consumer, if it only supports the carriers that play nicely with Apple?
I missed the part where the European carriers are "opposing" this for the second time. It's written they're cautious and waiting to see how the market responds. That doesn't sound like opposition to me.
Just got back from a trip in Europe that had me in three countries over the course of a week or so. I wanted data access throughout, but it is too much of a pain to get a dedicated SIM for a few days to make it worthwhile... so I just used wifi where I could get it.
The carriers have more to gain than to lose with the AppleSIM. If you live somewhere, the burden of switching is spread over a longer duration than people traveling, so going down to a store and buying a new card isn't that big of a deal. When you don't speak the language, don't know the brands in advance, and just want service you are willing to pay a small premium for convenience.
If the carriers push too hard they will just see Apple make an affiliated MVNO to provide the functionality.
Just got back from a trip in Europe that had me in three countries over the course of a week or so. I wanted data access throughout, but it is too much of a pain to get a dedicated SIM for a few days to make it worthwhile... so I just used wifi where I could get it.
The carriers have more to gain than to lose with the AppleSIM. If you live somewhere, the burden of switching is spread over a longer duration than people traveling, so going down to a store and buying a new card isn't that big of a deal. When you don't speak the language, don't know the brands in advance, and just want service you are willing to pay a small premium for convenience.
If the carriers push too hard they will just see Apple make an affiliated MVNO to provide the functionality.
The carriers in Europe will fight teeth and nails for the old system.
When you travel in Europe you can go through 2-3 countries easily. So by making it a pita to get a local sim people will resort to roaming.
And we all know roaming is the golden cash cow. More and more people will use data and will not want to pass on it in foreign countries.
So the number of people using roaming in Europe will increase steadily. Apple's idea to make it easy for the customers to get a local sim is really bad idea for the carriers.
But the carries will do this just for the convenience and safety of their customers./s
I doubt that Deutsche Telekom will oppose the Apple SIMM - don't they still own T-Mobile?
Also, I believe, that the EU will rule that the Apple SIMM forwards competition in the telecom industry and thus rule non participation in its use illegal.
The carriers in Europe will fight teeth and nails for the old system.
When you travel in Europe you can go through 2-3 countries easily. So by making it a pita to get a local sim people will resort to roaming.
And we all know roaming is the golden cash cow. More and more people will use data and will not want to pass on it in foreign countries.
So the number of people using roaming in Europe will increase steadily. Apple's idea to make it easy for the customers to get a local sim is really bad idea for the carriers.
But the carries will do this just for the convenience and safety of their customers./s
The carriers won't fight at all. The EU just passes legislation to make their overcharging go away.
Quote:
The EU has achieved retail price reductions across calls, SMS and data of over 80% since 2007;
Data roaming is now up to 91% cheaper compared to 2007;
Since 2007, the volume of the data roaming market has grown by 630%;
Visitors to Croatia will enjoy spectacular savings this year, as the cost for data is almost 15 times cheaper than before.
High premiums for roaming and intra-EU calls are an excessive irritant to business and leisure customers; they are a market distortion with no rational place in a single market – they teach users to fear their phones instead of using them. To tackle this issue, on 11 September 2013 (calendar), we adopted a legislative package for a "Connected Continent: Building a Telecoms Single Market" aimed at building a connected, competitive continent and enabling sustainable digital jobs and industries.
On 3 April 2014, the members of the European Parliament voted by 534 votes to 25 to end roaming fees within the European Union from 15 December 2015.[3] According to the proposed regulation, any service offered by a mobile operator must not cost more when roaming inside the EU than on the mobile operator's own network.
It hasn't been ratified as yet but probably will be.
It hasn't been ratified as yet but probably will be.
I wonder how this will pan out in Switzerland. Since the 2014 referendum bilateral participation in these sorts of EU policies are very unclear. Swiss mobile customers like myself pay $70 a month for less than 16,000 sq mi of service area, and that's including all the mountainous regions with no service. We pay huge roaming fees when we drive just a couple hours in any direction, and no doubt we'd all like to participate in a roaming agreement with the EU. But the question is whether the service providers will give up that cash cow, and whether the EU citizens will care about having to pay for roaming while driving through Switzerland.
Listen, Apple Insider Staff, where did you get this "Old Continent" label from?
I've never seen this in 60 years of paying attention to such things. I have seen "Old World" and "New World," of course, but those are quaint usages from the 1950s, maybe kept alive by aging scholars into the 70s. And everybody's immigrant grandmother used to refer to the "the old country" and get all teary-eyed.
But never have I seen "Old Continent." It's ridiculous and should go straight through the delete key along with "Far East."
Listen, Apple Insider Staff, where did you get this "Old Continent" label from?
I've never seen this in 60 years of paying attention to such things. I have seen "Old World" and "New World," of course, but those are quaint usages from the 1950s, maybe kept alive by aging scholars into the 70s. And everybody's immigrant grandmother used to refer to the "the old country" and get all teary-eyed.
But never have I seen "Old Continent." It's ridiculous and should go straight through the delete key along with "Far East."
Comments
Actually this would be the opposite of the typical anti-European criticisms of anti-business, pro-consumer. This time it's the American company trying to impose something pro-consumer, anti-business onto European businesses. European businesses here are acting American in preferring to maintain a monopoly over the consumer by locking them into a contract.
If all the hardware manufacturers did it, the telecoms people would have little choice but to support it. But it would just take one low-end hardware manufacturer to side with the carriers. None of the phone manufacturers want to annoy their partners though. It may end up being best to put the cellular hardware in a case. This way they don't have to design the splits the way they do and they can save the internal space while giving ultimate carrier freedom. The downside is forcing every iPhone user to have a case and restricting case options to carriers but most seem to use one anyway (87%):
https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/one-in-four-smartphone-owners-dont-use-a-case-to-protect-their-phone-according-to-npd/
The sim is a piece of ancient technology that now serves only one purpose: locking in a user.
There is no reason why technology in time could use multiple carrier frequencies and either aggregate them or switch between them automatically based on the user's preferences. (E.g. faster but more costly or picking the cheapest route.)
This would facilitate users being able to choose data that suits them. Much in the same way that a person on a budget can choose a bus instead of taking a taxi.
It would also allow companies that roll out more efficient technology to easily obtain new users.
In short: it cuts into the monopolistic behaviours of telcos, it's not a surprise that they don't want to support it.
How is this Apple SIM pro-consumer, if it only supports the carriers that play nicely with Apple?
Maybe, but at least we don't eat missionaries.:D
The carriers have more to gain than to lose with the AppleSIM. If you live somewhere, the burden of switching is spread over a longer duration than people traveling, so going down to a store and buying a new card isn't that big of a deal. When you don't speak the language, don't know the brands in advance, and just want service you are willing to pay a small premium for convenience.
If the carriers push too hard they will just see Apple make an affiliated MVNO to provide the functionality.
Just got back from a trip in Europe that had me in three countries over the course of a week or so. I wanted data access throughout, but it is too much of a pain to get a dedicated SIM for a few days to make it worthwhile... so I just used wifi where I could get it.
The carriers have more to gain than to lose with the AppleSIM. If you live somewhere, the burden of switching is spread over a longer duration than people traveling, so going down to a store and buying a new card isn't that big of a deal. When you don't speak the language, don't know the brands in advance, and just want service you are willing to pay a small premium for convenience.
If the carriers push too hard they will just see Apple make an affiliated MVNO to provide the functionality.
The carriers in Europe will fight teeth and nails for the old system.
When you travel in Europe you can go through 2-3 countries easily. So by making it a pita to get a local sim people will resort to roaming.
And we all know roaming is the golden cash cow. More and more people will use data and will not want to pass on it in foreign countries.
So the number of people using roaming in Europe will increase steadily. Apple's idea to make it easy for the customers to get a local sim is really bad idea for the carriers.
But the carries will do this just for the convenience and safety of their customers./s
Also, I believe, that the EU will rule that the Apple SIMM forwards competition in the telecom industry and thus rule non participation in its use illegal.
The carriers in Europe will fight teeth and nails for the old system.
When you travel in Europe you can go through 2-3 countries easily. So by making it a pita to get a local sim people will resort to roaming.
And we all know roaming is the golden cash cow. More and more people will use data and will not want to pass on it in foreign countries.
So the number of people using roaming in Europe will increase steadily. Apple's idea to make it easy for the customers to get a local sim is really bad idea for the carriers.
But the carries will do this just for the convenience and safety of their customers./s
The carriers won't fight at all. The EU just passes legislation to make their overcharging go away.
High premiums for roaming and intra-EU calls are an excessive irritant to business and leisure customers; they are a market distortion with no rational place in a single market – they teach users to fear their phones instead of using them. To tackle this issue, on 11 September 2013 (calendar), we adopted a legislative package for a "Connected Continent: Building a Telecoms Single Market" aimed at building a connected, competitive continent and enabling sustainable digital jobs and industries.
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming
It hasn't been ratified as yet but probably will be.
The carriers won't fight at all. The EU just passes legislation to make their overcharging go away.
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/roaming
It hasn't been ratified as yet but probably will be.
I wonder how this will pan out in Switzerland. Since the 2014 referendum bilateral participation in these sorts of EU policies are very unclear. Swiss mobile customers like myself pay $70 a month for less than 16,000 sq mi of service area, and that's including all the mountainous regions with no service. We pay huge roaming fees when we drive just a couple hours in any direction, and no doubt we'd all like to participate in a roaming agreement with the EU. But the question is whether the service providers will give up that cash cow, and whether the EU citizens will care about having to pay for roaming while driving through Switzerland.
I've never seen this in 60 years of paying attention to such things. I have seen "Old World" and "New World," of course, but those are quaint usages from the 1950s, maybe kept alive by aging scholars into the 70s. And everybody's immigrant grandmother used to refer to the "the old country" and get all teary-eyed.
But never have I seen "Old Continent." It's ridiculous and should go straight through the delete key along with "Far East."
Same with "Cupertino-based"...
Except there's not one network like the other utilities have.