Posted by
helpplease
19 yrs ago
Does your mobile provider charge you for a call back to HK EVEN when the person in HK doesn't pick up and the phone just rings?
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F100
19 yrs ago
what i know is that they literally charge you an arm and a leg for everything.
better just buy a phone card and use it when you are overseas.
becareful of using your mobile phone in places such as indonesia. they charged me over $2 USD a minute.
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ranti
19 yrs ago
If your phone just rings wth no answer or answered by voicemail, you should NOT be charged.
Or if you are calling into HK from overseas whilst roaming and no answer, then also no charge. But if it goes t voicemail then you would be charged.
Usually there is also a minimum charge for roaming calls, ie 1 minute.
Better to pickup local SIM card wherever you happen to be and make/receive calls that way. Any urgent calls to your HK/home country mobile can go to voicemail and you can get them later.
Roaming is CRAZY.....it's common knowledge that mobile (especially GSM) operators make most of their $$$ from roaming revenues. It's a cartel of sorts.....cash cow for all concerned.
One of these days.....someone will comeup with an internet related technology that will force roaming charges to come down.
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mkw
19 yrs ago
You're better off using an Internet service like skype. The software is free to download and all you need is a cheap internet phone to plug into your computer. International calls are very cheap or even free.
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"it's common knowledge that mobile (especially GSM) operators make most of their $$$ from roaming revenues" - except that this is not true. Roaming revenue only accounts for a small portion of most mobile operators revenue.
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onemorething - I don't understand - please clarify. e.g. I am overseas. I call my friend in HK using my HK mobile. It rings but they do not answer, nor does it go to voicemail, etc. Will I be charged just for the ringing time?
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No I wasn't talking about "call back" - don't know how to use it. Just meant direct dial. Thanks
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ranti
19 yrs ago
Sorry....I did not state it correctly. Mobile operators PROFITS are primarily driven by roaming revenues....
In other words "GOUGING".
Oh, and I answered the question about whether calls are charged already in my ealrier post.
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ranti
19 yrs ago
"Beachball" why nitpick on my words when most people understand that ROAMING charges are outrageous?
$$$ can stand for profits as well as pure income.
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Ranti: I was not nitpicking. Roaming does not account for a large proportion of profits, either. Operator profits are NOT driven by roaming revenues.
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Ed
19 yrs ago
Do a google - roaming accounts for significant profits for service providers...
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Based on
a) many years of working with and advising mobile operators and
b) doing a Google search (just to make people happy)
roaming revenue probably accounts for something like 10-15% of revenue and roaming charges have been dropping rapidly/dramatically.
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Another source claimed that in "2004, there were 208 million roamers worldwide, and they drove 15% of all wireless revenue, according to Informa Telecoms and Media, an independent analyst firm. By 2008, the number of roamers is expected to hit 850 million and drive 28% of revenue."
(Source: http://www.3gamericas.org/English/Technology_Center/QA/gsmqa.cfm)
Actual numbers are lower than that.
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ranti
19 yrs ago
I don't want to get into a tiff about how roaming charges are HIGH.....you are welcome to use your mobile phone while travelling and paying the roaming charges.
I have worked for and also advised mobile
operators in the region, and I KNOW for a FACT that profits from roaming are HIGH. Cannot even compare to revenues generated by local users.
Outrageous rates discounted by 10-20% are still outrageously high.
Just look at your bill when you use your roaming, and you'll see that the charges are significant. Enough for me and any layman to decipher that it is a bit much. Technology is supposed to make life easier and offer more convnience for a certain price. At this point in time that "price" for roaming is TOO high considering the cost of providing the service.
anyways..off-topic now.
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ranti
19 yrs ago
Trust me.....ROAMING is a HUGE part of their plans. That's why they fight for signal strength to capture roamers coming into their countries at the ports of entry.
SIM/Phones can have preset roaming preferences, but in absence of that, it goes to the operator with the best signal and logs it as the preferred network unless signal is completely lost, and phone needs to do another search.
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