Click below to
find interesting
information from our
May 2010a
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Roaming
regulation?
Don't
hold
your
breath
The OECD
(also known as
"the rich
country's club")
recently issued
two reports; on
global roaming
charging and on
policy
recommendations.
Whilst
fascinating for
us (we're in the
business), and
packed full of
lots of roaming
information, at
166 fairly dense
pages not many
people would
pore through it.
Whilst these
reports detail
many of the
problems of
global roaming
(mostly that
prices are too
high...) and
investigate
their causes
thoroughly, they
offer little
hope to those of
us that prices
will lower
significantly
any time soon.
The OECD does
recommend a
possible
commercial
solution
(roaming onto
networks without
roaming
agreements with
your home
network),
however we see
that as both
clumsy and
subject to the
same problems as
existing roaming
(so will not
cause lower
prices).
The OECD also
recommends
having a
price-regulator,
which they
suggest might be
the WTO (under
the GATS -
General
Agreement on
Trade in
Services -
treaty
framework).
Unfortunately we
predict this
will not have
any short-term
or medium-term
effect - the
OECD is not a
regulator, the
WTO is only used
to bringing
cases with the
support of
industries (and
the mobile
industry would
be against
this), and any
enforcement is
unclear.
So whilst
roaming prices
aren't likely to
drop, there is
an
alternative.
Travel
Flapping
wings
Nervous
flyers tend to
panic when they
see aeroplane
wings flexing
and flopping,
especially in
turbulence. And
we've all seen
how wings bend
and wobble
during takeoff.
However it's
really very
normal -
aeroplane wings
are designed to
bend and indeed
can bend a
remarkable
amount before
they break.
To
illustrate, just
take a look at
the picture on
the right. It's
one of the
prototypes for
Boeing's
brand-new 787
Dreamliner,
undergoing
"ultimate load
testing". That's
when the wings
(the white
curves in the
photo) were
lifted with a
force 150%
greater than any
expected during
the flying life
of any aircraft.
The result was
bending upwards
of the wingtips
around 25 ft/7.6
m (and, you'll
be happy to
know, no
breakage).
Given the 787
is designed with
fairly radical
new technology
(composite
carbon fibre
construction),
the successful
test was also a
great comfort to
Boeing as well.
Mobile phones
Telecoms prices
drop (but not
roaming)
The
International
Telecoms Union
reported that
average
worldwide prices
for various
telecoms
services have
dropped (as is
usual). The
standout is
fixed-line
broadband data,
where prices
dropped an
amazing average
of 42% worldwide
from 2008 to
2009. Mobile
services weren't
missed out
either, with a
26% price
decrease.
Unfortunately
prices for
roaming services
for Australian
users went the
other way in
2009. Telstra
(once) and Optus
(twice) both
raised roaming
prices, and we
expect more to
come in 2010 and
beyond.
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