I wouldn't be roaming as I stay in Ireland half of the year, and have an
Eircom free account I can access. When at work, there's a land line
(finally) that I can use, but when away from work or even in my digs,
I'd like to use my mobile phone for access, as I don't have a my own
land line account. I don't know of any local cafes that have wave-lan
setups yet, but maybe I'll even try to set up my local cafe with one so
I can surf on my iBook. The problem in Ireland is that broad band
internet access is limited to major population centers, and if I set up
an Airport base station in a cafe there'd still be the land line charges
(per minute) even for a local dial up. Even still, the card phone would
be especially useful for me to use to fax from anywhere I have mobile
coverage, and it would be cool to have my Newton able to do this without
a wire connection to my mobile phone, which I can't do at the moment
because I can't find the Nokia data cable at any of the phone shops I've
visited.
Interesting info about the suit against Vodaphone. I had no experience
with Vodaphone until they bought Eircell, and from what I've seen,
service isn't a priority.
On Saturday, December 1, 2001, at 04:28 AM, BK wrote:
>
> Many networks are now working on data services also for prepaid. So,
> you=20=
>
> may see some data service becoming available to your pay-as-you-go
> plan=20=
>
> some time next year.
>
> Major problem with data services and GSM are however high cost no
> matter=20=
>
> how you look at it.
>
> - time based charging instead of volume based or flat fee services
> (like=20=
>
> the ones in Japan)
>
> this is supposed to be changing soon and volume based services will=20
> become available but they may require protocols which may not be=20
> supported on the Newton (i.e. WAP 2.0 or the Japanese i-mode).
>
> - no local access while roaming
>
> basically you get charged five fold:
>
> 1) to pay the visited network
>
> 2) one more time to pay the clearing house
>
> 3) another one more time to pay your home network for billing and
> taking=20=
>
> the risk
>
> 4) yet one more time to pay the international call back to your home=20
> country to get data access
>
> 5) yet another one more time to pay the portal through which you
> access=20=
>
> the internet
>
> That's GSM for you. In respect of roaming and especially in a data=20
> context it's a lemon technology but unlike WAP it hasn't flopped yet=20
> because there have been few alternatives if any at all and people
> just=20=
>
> had to put up with it whether they liked it or not. If you will be=20
> travelling a lot, stay away from data roaming services, unless your
> name=20=
>
> is Onassis. It's not worth the cost. For the money you will spent on=20
> roaming charges you can rent an entire internet cafe for the duration
> of=20=
>
> your trip.
>
> The EU competition directorate has an antitrust case going against
> major=20=
>
> mobile phone companies (incl. VodaFone) because of the cost of
> roaming=20=
>
> "not having any relationship to the cost" according to a report by =20
> INTUG which intiated the EU taking action.
>
> There are some technologies out there that can reduce or even solve
> the=20=
>
> problem, but perhaps not so soon as operators are reluctant to
> changes=20=
>
> and markets heading for saturation now.
>
> One partial solution is a virtual private network called Star*home,=20
> basically it provides a virtual private circuit over IP back to your=20
> home network while abroad to reduce cost and make access easier.
>
> Another one of those animals is called CAMEL, which is again one of=20
> those overhyped technologies supposed to solve every imaginable
> problem=20=
>
> but after 8 years of standardisation committee bargaining has become
> so=20=
>
> complex and expensive that now nobody seems to seriously want it.
> CAMEL=20=
>
> adds a few more layers on top of the SS7 protocol stack to make home=20
> networks and visited networks able to exchange information better and=20
> faster than before. However, who ever goes through the trouble of=20
> rolling out CAMEL doesn't really benefit ,for it will be their=20
> competitors who will benefit first, which seems paradox but that's
> the=20=
>
> way it is perceived and why everybody is now waiting for the others
> to=20=
>
> make a move ;-)
>
> Yet another one of those animals is called ZEBRA, which is a
> disruptive=20=
>
> technology and some players are frightened of it. So, it may not get
> a=20=
>
> fair chance. ZEBRA makes the visited network accept you as a
> temporary=20=
>
> local customer on the fly and enables them to serve and charge you=20
> directly while you are visiting their network, hence all other
> networks=20=
>
> and middlemen are cut out of the (temporary) deal and thus tariffs=20
> comparable to local tariffs can be offered to visitors. BTW, this is
> the=20=
>
> method any other tourist business is charged for, just in case you=20
> wondered what is so novel about this ;-)
>
> As I said before, I do not recommend to use data roaming services.=20
> Instead get yourself a WiFi card and encourage Noguchi-san (Driver
> Labo)=20=
>
> to do more work on the WaveLan driver so it will be usable in airport=20
> and hotel lobbies and coffee shops that offer WLAN access in growing=20
> numbers.
>
> Lets put it this way: If you travel to 5 places during the year and
> stay=20=
>
> at the same hotels, then, if you donated one airport base station to=20
> each hotel to put up in their lobby, you'd likely still have spent
> less=20=
>
> money than what you'd spent on roaming. Then again, you could just
> put=20=
>
> one or two APs into your travel kit ;-)
>
> Yes, I am biased due to intensive travelling and paying through the
> nose=20=
>
> for roaming services, and last but not least having worked on WiFi=20
> deployment and on the development of ZEBRA. But I guarantee when you=20
> will see your first roaming bill you'll be biased too!
>
> ROAMER BEWARE !
>
> rgds
> BK
>
> On Saturday, December 1, 2001, at 09:22 , Caoimh=EDn wrote:
>
>> The card I was looking at is a Nokia 900 Mhz GSM PCMCIA card, with =
> an=3D20
>> integral antennae and a receptacle for your SIM card. It comes
>> with=20=
>
>> a=3D20=3D
>>
>> hands free attachment that you can use to make voice calls. The
>> one=20=
>
>> I=3D20=3D
>>
>> saw was at a mobile phone store in Cork, Ireland.
>>
>> Where in Europe will you be living? Eircell in Ireland was good=20
>> (until=3D20=3D
>>
>> Vodaphone bought them). There seems to be a consolidation going on=20
>> in=3D20=3D
>>
>> the European mobile phone market, with Vodaphone becoming a major=3D20
>> player. I'm stuck with Eircell because it is the only service
>> with=3D20=
>
>> coverage where I stay. But really, getting a mobile phone in =
> Europe=3D20
>> seems to be a much simpler affair than in the USA. My Eircell=20
>> account=3D20=3D
>>
>> is a pay as you go account and cost me =3DA330 IR to set up as I =
> already =3D
>> had=3D20
>> a phone, although the call charges are a bit steep. There is no=20
>> service=3D20=3D
>>
>> contract and I can top up the phone with cards purchased almost=20
>> anywhere=3D20=3D
>>
>> or even on an ATM. To get their "high speed wireless internet=20
>> access",=3D20=3D
>>
>> you have to sign up as a billing customer so I'll sign up with a=20
>> monthly=3D20=3D
>>
>> bill account when I buy the phone, and get a cheaper price on the=3D20
>> hardware.
>>
>> The nice thing about the European mobile phones is that you only =
> get=3D20
>> charged for outgoing calls, never for "airtime" like in the States.
>> =20=
>
>> So=3D20=3D
>>
>> unless you're "roaming" in a foreign country, you never pay for=20
>> incoming=3D20=3D
>>
>> calls.
>
>
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