I have to say that I find O2's pricing in the UK really reasonable, I am on the £35 a month contract (around $50) which gives me the unlimitted internet and a fair amount of calls/texts.
From what I can see the American pricing is a rip off, especially as Americans seem to have to use their minutes when people call them as well as when dialing out (I could be wrong here)
You are right, but we get correspondingly more minutes as a result. So instead of worrying about who we are calling and how much each call will cost, we can get for a reasonable price truly unlimited calling, in and out, to any phone in the country, land line or mobile, local and long distance. I prefer it to all the worrying I hear about Euro plans and how you need to know what kind of a phone you are calling etc.
Yes, but they are already receiving payment for the call from the one who places it, do your landlines work the same way, do you have to pay to receive a call from someone else?
You are right, it's certainly an idea that would never work here, no consumer would accept it.
The opposite is also true - Euro style pricing would not be accepted here.
Can we drop all the BS comparing cell phone plans internationally? IT ALL EVENS OUT. Both sides of the pond have oligopoly market structures, and similar levels of personal income. The price of using a cell phone works out about the same no matter where you live.
Verizon now has "Friends and Family" so I'm wondering when AT&T will add it. That would totally solve my major issue moving to AT&T which is the rest of the family that I normally call is on Verizon.
That and adding some text messages to the data plan and I'll move when the new iPhone is released in June.
Yes, the iPhone's upfront device price is largely irrelevant in the TCO.
However AT&T could make a marketing decision at any time to offer some lower tier of iPhone data/minutes if they think that makes sense from a competitive point of view. For instance in the several years that I had my previous Verizon phone the service plans changed numerous times.
Remember though that in the roughly $70/month basic plan there's some amount that's paid to Apple as a hardware subsidy, and that's not going to change (unless the upfront price does). As a result AT&T has less room to move on price than the $70 number might suggest.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: AT&T is a complete and total rip-off and only fool would pay those ridiculous prices for a freakin' PHONE!
I'll stick with my pay-as-you-go phone for less than $10 a month thanks. If the time comes that I can make money using my phone, only THEN will I consider paying more because it will justify the cost. Otherwise I'd just be throwing money away for what? Coolness and convenience?
MetroPCS gives everything - EVERYTHING - for $50.00 per month. Unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited web, SMS, MMS, etc... anything, and everything... and NO contract what-so-ever. No credit check and no contract. Ever. They are stealing a ton of people away from Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc. They are the first domino driving down these prices. While they don't have a phone as cool as the iPhone, they are improving the selections - Data is new to them so you'll see more smart phones...
AT&T and Verizon might think they are insulated from the price-cutting, but based on my call quality with AT&T I might switch the office over to the "little guys." The reality is that a cell phone doesn't provide $70 in value over a month, even an iPhone.
For once, I think Shaw Wu is actually right. Ouch, that hurt.
The trend in a business like cell phones should be towards unmetered, unlimited service for a flat fee, except for the artificial monopoly out there.
Does T-Mo have a 3G network yet? Could Sprint switch to a GSM standard?
MetroPCS gives everything - EVERYTHING - for $50.00 per month. Unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited web, SMS, MMS, etc... anything, and everything... and NO contract what-so-ever. No credit check and no contract. Ever. They are stealing a ton of people away from Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc. They are the first domino driving down these prices. While they don't have a phone as cool as the iPhone, they are improving the selections - Data is new to them so you'll see more smart phones...
Does MetroPCS still only do the one-way nationwide calling. IOW, you can call anywhere in the nation from your home area, but you get charged roaming fees if you call from outside that area?
Either way, MVNOs like MetroPCS do serve their purpose for those that live in the right areas, but they couldn't suit my needs. I wasted $150 on a CDMA-based phone that I used for less than 2 months. I wanted good phone and data coverage and they just can't supply that.
There is also nights and weekends and rollover minutes.
Plus no roaming when you travel between states. I remember back in the mid 1990s your phone would not work once you leave your area code or state if you don't enroll in roaming plan.
People don't realize that what work for Europe might not work in the US. Being able to use my phone when traveling 500 miles from home without paying roaming charges and call anyone in the US without paying long distance fees are very important. However, I don't know if this is possible in Europe or not.
Verizon now has "Friends and Family" so I'm wondering when AT&T will add it. That would totally solve my major issue moving to AT&T which is the rest of the family that I normally call is on Verizon.
That and adding some text messages to the data plan and I'll move when the new iPhone is released in June.
Our family had the same situation in that the majority were on Verizon Wireless before the iPhone came on the market. We stayed within Verizon and got unlimited free calling to our kin on Verizon Wireless in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas. Since then almost all of us have migrated to AT&T upon Verizon contract expiration, simply because the IPhone features still run rings around any competitors, even with introductions of new products from Blackberry and LG.
Verizon Friiends and Family is a nice plan if you choose a family plan with two or more lines, which lets you set up to 10 family and friends on any wired or wireless U.S. network for free unlimited calling.
In our case, however, with my wife and I both having AT&T iPhones on a 700 minute family plan, we never get close to our monthly limit since the big family migration. Accordingly, we have a cushion of rollover minutes.
AT&T's Family Plan options all include the following:
- Unlimited Nights and Weekends calling from 9 p.m to 6 a.m.
- Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (M2M) calling to other AT&T wireless customers
- No domestic roaming or long distance charges
- All lines sharing Rollover Minutes which lets you save those unused minutes
So you may want take a fresh look based both on your own calling patterns and what your family members would like to do when their Verizon contracts come up for renewal. You all may want to migrate to AT&T like we did, even if AT&T never introduces a copycat version of Verizon Friends and Family.
Last word - everybody in our family loves their iPhones!
eople don't realize that what work for Europe might not work in the US. Being able to use my phone when traveling 500 miles from home without paying roaming charges and call anyone in the US without paying long distance fees are very important. However, I don't know if this is possible in Europe or not.
That is a good point. I went to Hawaii and I was covered under my normal AT&T plan. I travel all over the US yet I never have to switch SIM cards. I get 3G from AT&T most of the time, even on highways and on trains. For example, it is about 2,600 miles (4200 km) from San Francisco to New York City.
"Unlimited data/voice" is actually a 5GB limit per month. They'll need to change this when tethering is available.
I would imagine that they would make it the same as their 3G USB and EC/34 cards, $60/month. That is what I pay for mine.
I go quite a bit over the 5GB limit. I did about 70GB last month and I have never been called, throttled or, obviously, dropped because of my usage. I do also pay for 2 iPhones so perhaps they are showing me some leniency, but I doubt that as I've never hard of anyone else getting booted for excessive usage on AT&T's network.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: AT&T is a complete and total rip-off and only fool would pay those ridiculous prices for a freakin' PHONE!
I'll stick with my pay-as-you-go phone for less than $10 a month thanks. If the time comes that I can make money using my phone, only THEN will I consider paying more because it will justify the cost. Otherwise I'd just be throwing money away for what? Coolness and convenience?
Just curious - how old are you?
As people get older, they tend to start valuing their time more. So that little throwaway word, the last word in your post... that's kinda important. Convenience. $2 per day is all the iPhone costs. For people who value their time and appreciate well made things, that's probably the best deal around. And you know what, the sales numbers bear it out.
When the iPhone 3G first came out, a lot of us 1st gen iPhone owners complained about the monthly fee hike and refused to upgrade our phones. Lot of people justify the iPhone 3G by saying it's just an extra $10/month for faster speed and the aggregate cost is the same more or less. Yes, but you pay it in installment over a recurring monthly fees... For some of us, that relationship with the carrier lasts longer than a 2 year contract. Hence, the complaint about the fee increases.
The iPhone 3G is nice except that some of us actually like our iPhones to be used as phones and don't have all that bandwidth requirement. Furthermore, I am close to a wireless network most of the time so I can get access to a fast network without using AT&T's network. So, at least for me, it was already difficult to sign up for the $65/month iPhone/Edge plan and I hardly use the phone for accessing the internet anyway.
So, I do hope AT&T changes their plan. I already cancelled my AT&T DSL and phone line and went with cable for data and voice. So, I say let the competition duke it out. I'm willing to wait until the dust settles.
Comments
I have to say that I find O2's pricing in the UK really reasonable, I am on the £35 a month contract (around $50) which gives me the unlimitted internet and a fair amount of calls/texts.
From what I can see the American pricing is a rip off, especially as Americans seem to have to use their minutes when people call them as well as when dialing out (I could be wrong here)
You are right, but we get correspondingly more minutes as a result. So instead of worrying about who we are calling and how much each call will cost, we can get for a reasonable price truly unlimited calling, in and out, to any phone in the country, land line or mobile, local and long distance. I prefer it to all the worrying I hear about Euro plans and how you need to know what kind of a phone you are calling etc.
Yes, but they are already receiving payment for the call from the one who places it, do your landlines work the same way, do you have to pay to receive a call from someone else?
You are right, it's certainly an idea that would never work here, no consumer would accept it.
The opposite is also true - Euro style pricing would not be accepted here.
Can we drop all the BS comparing cell phone plans internationally? IT ALL EVENS OUT. Both sides of the pond have oligopoly market structures, and similar levels of personal income. The price of using a cell phone works out about the same no matter where you live.
That and adding some text messages to the data plan and I'll move when the new iPhone is released in June.
However AT&T could make a marketing decision at any time to offer some lower tier of iPhone data/minutes if they think that makes sense from a competitive point of view. For instance in the several years that I had my previous Verizon phone the service plans changed numerous times.
Remember though that in the roughly $70/month basic plan there's some amount that's paid to Apple as a hardware subsidy, and that's not going to change (unless the upfront price does). As a result AT&T has less room to move on price than the $70 number might suggest.
I'll stick with my pay-as-you-go phone for less than $10 a month thanks. If the time comes that I can make money using my phone, only THEN will I consider paying more because it will justify the cost. Otherwise I'd just be throwing money away for what? Coolness and convenience?
AT&T and Verizon charge the most, but they are also growing the fastest. They are not forced to lower their costs.
Sprint is loosing customers and T-Mobile isn't growing nearly as fast. So they both are forced to compete on price.
As long as AT&T/Verizon continue to grow their isn't as much reason for them to compete on price.
For once, I think Shaw Wu is actually right. Ouch, that hurt.
The trend in a business like cell phones should be towards unmetered, unlimited service for a flat fee, except for the artificial monopoly out there.
Does T-Mo have a 3G network yet? Could Sprint switch to a GSM standard?
MetroPCS gives everything - EVERYTHING - for $50.00 per month. Unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited web, SMS, MMS, etc... anything, and everything... and NO contract what-so-ever. No credit check and no contract. Ever. They are stealing a ton of people away from Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc. They are the first domino driving down these prices. While they don't have a phone as cool as the iPhone, they are improving the selections - Data is new to them so you'll see more smart phones...
Does MetroPCS still only do the one-way nationwide calling. IOW, you can call anywhere in the nation from your home area, but you get charged roaming fees if you call from outside that area?
Either way, MVNOs like MetroPCS do serve their purpose for those that live in the right areas, but they couldn't suit my needs. I wasted $150 on a CDMA-based phone that I used for less than 2 months. I wanted good phone and data coverage and they just can't supply that.
There is also nights and weekends and rollover minutes.
Plus no roaming when you travel between states. I remember back in the mid 1990s your phone would not work once you leave your area code or state if you don't enroll in roaming plan.
People don't realize that what work for Europe might not work in the US. Being able to use my phone when traveling 500 miles from home without paying roaming charges and call anyone in the US without paying long distance fees are very important. However, I don't know if this is possible in Europe or not.
Verizon now has "Friends and Family" so I'm wondering when AT&T will add it. That would totally solve my major issue moving to AT&T which is the rest of the family that I normally call is on Verizon.
That and adding some text messages to the data plan and I'll move when the new iPhone is released in June.
Our family had the same situation in that the majority were on Verizon Wireless before the iPhone came on the market. We stayed within Verizon and got unlimited free calling to our kin on Verizon Wireless in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas. Since then almost all of us have migrated to AT&T upon Verizon contract expiration, simply because the IPhone features still run rings around any competitors, even with introductions of new products from Blackberry and LG.
Verizon Friiends and Family is a nice plan if you choose a family plan with two or more lines, which lets you set up to 10 family and friends on any wired or wireless U.S. network for free unlimited calling.
In our case, however, with my wife and I both having AT&T iPhones on a 700 minute family plan, we never get close to our monthly limit since the big family migration. Accordingly, we have a cushion of rollover minutes.
AT&T's Family Plan options all include the following:
- Unlimited Nights and Weekends calling from 9 p.m to 6 a.m.
- Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (M2M) calling to other AT&T wireless customers
- No domestic roaming or long distance charges
- All lines sharing Rollover Minutes which lets you save those unused minutes
So you may want take a fresh look based both on your own calling patterns and what your family members would like to do when their Verizon contracts come up for renewal. You all may want to migrate to AT&T like we did, even if AT&T never introduces a copycat version of Verizon Friends and Family.
Last word - everybody in our family loves their iPhones!
eople don't realize that what work for Europe might not work in the US. Being able to use my phone when traveling 500 miles from home without paying roaming charges and call anyone in the US without paying long distance fees are very important. However, I don't know if this is possible in Europe or not.
That is a good point. I went to Hawaii and I was covered under my normal AT&T plan. I travel all over the US yet I never have to switch SIM cards. I get 3G from AT&T most of the time, even on highways and on trains. For example, it is about 2,600 miles (4200 km) from San Francisco to New York City.
"Unlimited data/voice" is actually a 5GB limit per month. They'll need to change this when tethering is available.
I would imagine that they would make it the same as their 3G USB and EC/34 cards, $60/month. That is what I pay for mine.
I go quite a bit over the 5GB limit. I did about 70GB last month and I have never been called, throttled or, obviously, dropped because of my usage. I do also pay for 2 iPhones so perhaps they are showing me some leniency, but I doubt that as I've never hard of anyone else getting booted for excessive usage on AT&T's network.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: AT&T is a complete and total rip-off and only fool would pay those ridiculous prices for a freakin' PHONE!
I'll stick with my pay-as-you-go phone for less than $10 a month thanks. If the time comes that I can make money using my phone, only THEN will I consider paying more because it will justify the cost. Otherwise I'd just be throwing money away for what? Coolness and convenience?
Just curious - how old are you?
As people get older, they tend to start valuing their time more. So that little throwaway word, the last word in your post... that's kinda important. Convenience. $2 per day is all the iPhone costs. For people who value their time and appreciate well made things, that's probably the best deal around. And you know what, the sales numbers bear it out.
As far as getting charged for minutes on incoming calls, Rogers also charges us for incoming text now, even if it's spam. We get charged both ways.
Monopolies suck.
The iPhone 3G is nice except that some of us actually like our iPhones to be used as phones and don't have all that bandwidth requirement. Furthermore, I am close to a wireless network most of the time so I can get access to a fast network without using AT&T's network. So, at least for me, it was already difficult to sign up for the $65/month iPhone/Edge plan and I hardly use the phone for accessing the internet anyway.
So, I do hope AT&T changes their plan. I already cancelled my AT&T DSL and phone line and went with cable for data and voice. So, I say let the competition duke it out. I'm willing to wait until the dust settles.
I have been saying all along that the thing holding up more rapid adoption of the iPhone is NOT the price of the hand set.
God, $200 is NOTHING when you figure that the service will cost NO LESS than $1,680 over 2 years, and that is before cell plan taxes.
I just don't see a price cut to $100 for the phone making that much of a difference.
BUT-a voice and data plan that included some sort of texting (400?) for $50 per month per line WOULD BE THE "KILLER APP" for adoption.
Absolutely. Lower the price to $50 and I'm at the ATT store in a heartbeat.
For that I get $A550 calls SMS or whatever else I want to use, which is around 600 minutes and 1000 minutes of free calls intra Network on weekends.
The calls cover anywhere in Australia and it's free to receive calls
Plus 400MB of data which I use in full as open wireless networks are few and far between.
My monthly fee costs around 3 hours of average weekly earnings.
My iPhone is officially unlocked, if I travel I can use any SIM.
In Australia I pay $A79 a month ($US51) on a 24 month contract the 8GB is free, the 16GB is $A121 ($US78).
For that I get $A550 calls SMS or whatever else I want to use, which is around 600 minutes and 1000 minutes of free calls intra Network on weekends.
The calls cover anywhere in Australia and it's free to receive calls
Plus 400MB of data which I use in full as open wireless networks are few and far between.
My monthly fee costs around 3 hours of average weekly earnings.
My iPhone is officially unlocked, if I travel I can use any SIM.
Yet, Apple has sold far more iPhones in the USA than in any other country, despite what everyone keeps insisting is such a terrible deal. Wierd!
For what it's worth, per capita income in the USA is about 33% higher than in Australia, so are you surprised that consumer prices are also higher?
http://www.finfacts.ie/biz10/globalw...epercapita.htm