Click below to
find interesting
information from our
June 2011a
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Roaming
hypocrisy
TeliaSonera
(a large
Scandinavian
mobile network)
CEO Lars Nyberg
recently said
(about roaming)
"I find it
unacceptable
that an industry
treats a market
like that. I
don't mind
making money,
but I don't like
to steal it."
He
announced lower
data-roaming
prices. Of
course these
only
apply to
TeliaSonera's
own subscribers,
and only
when they use
TeliaSonera's
own networks in
Denmark,
Finland, Norway,
Sweden, Estonia,
Latvia and
Lithuania (other
networks will
attract full
price). And he
admitted using
steering to
force
travellers'
mobile phones
onto his
networks.
Of course,
price-reductions
won't
apply to
Australians
using
TeliaSonera's
networks. You'll
still pay top
dollar in
Scandinavia and
elsewhere.
Don't let the
networks steal
your money - use
our vSIM
post-paid
alternative
to avoid roaming
theft overseas.
Travel
Airline
bankruptcies
Airlines
are
quite
financially-risky
enterprises
(famously,
their
losses
since
the dawn
of
flight
exceed
their
cumulative
profits).
So they
frequently
go under
(and
sometimes
cease
operations).
Air
Zimbabwe seems
to be the latest
in strife, with
passengers
returning to
South Africa
stranded in
Harare after
their aeroplane
was repossessed
(and another out
of action due to
hitting warthogs
on the runway).
Airline
bankruptcies are
well-known in
Australia also,
with Compass
(Mark 1 and 2)
and Ansett being
notable
casualties. In
the USA, almost
all airlines of
any size have
been in or
extremely close
to bankruptcy at
various times in
the last decade.
Travellers on
trips that
include "shaky"
airlines might
want to always
book through a
travel agent
(rather than
direct with the
airline). That
way their ticket
cost is safe,
and they have
someone to help
them out if they
are stranded.
Mobile phones
VoIP blocking
Some mobile
users have
turned to VoIP
applications
(such as Skype,
Friing, Jajah
etc) in an
attempt to save
on calling costs
(but be aware
that
VoIP doesn't
help with
reducing roaming
costs).
In a
world-first,
Vodafone
Netherlands has
blocked the use
of VoIP apps.
And the way they
have done it is
disturbing in a
couple of
important ways.
Firstly,
they blocked it
by checking the
destination of
data packets and
singling out
those going to
the VoIP
providers'
internet
addresses. The
implication is
that mobile
phone companies
can discriminate
against
particular
internet sites
(which violates
the principle of
"net-neutrality").
Secondly, they
didn't really
block it, just
slowed down the
access so that
it was unusable.
And they
announced that
Vodafone
Netherlands
subscribers can
get the service
back if they
upgrade to a
more expensive
subscription.
So really it's
just the mobile
network trying
to get leverage
and extract
extra payments -
in this case
from the user,
but presumably
also trying to
put pressure on
VoIP providers
to pay up as
well to keep
their service
usable.
We find that
disturbing, but
think the
practice may
eventually
spread here too.
To
subscribe
to our
Newsletter
click
here
