Data Roaming costs in Italy

coolesticeking

DUTR wrote: »

Sometimes there is no point writing sense to some of the cork sucker whingers, it wouldn't be so bad if they could levy a reasonable case as to why the charges should be any cheaper? Or even what they deem a reasonable £/mb rate. All I am seeing is headline mark ups and someone who knows some one stories.

Agreed. What people need to do is think "Could I run a mobile network myself better?" and "Can I make roaming prices cheaper and keep the costs the same good value in the UK?" the simple answer is no as you would go bust regardless if you have shareholders or not.

One of the main problems in the UK is we get a lot of things for either no cost or at cheaper rates.

For example, most of us get a free or cheaper handset as part of a contract even PAYG Handsets are cheaper! - USA for example, they have to pay in most cases for the handset in full and full wack for the contract itself and this is the same in most other places around the world.

A bit off topic, we get free banking as long as we stay in credit - We are the only ones I think that get this? Everywhere else has to pay for each transaction/ATM/Direct Debit etc.

I don't think they should be reducing roaming as i've said above - you don't have to use the service if you don't want to. It's your choice if you are willing to pay the going rates.

I agree with the modern smartphone - They can do a lot of things like checking the Weather etc, this is very true. But again you don't have to use them when you are abroad it's your choice.

Same as going into Tesco and thinking.. I need a pint of milk, you either pay for it at the price shown or you don't. Your choice!

I know what will happen, the data cap will go through if we like it or not. Peoples contract comes up for renewal and it will be "My phone contract has gone up by £10 and I think that is disgusting" or "They have made me pay half for the handset on a 24 Month Contract"

What more do people really want next?

It's the same for everything in life, no such thing as a free lunch - it has to be paid some way or another and the same with happen with data roaming.

BE WARNED!

How much is too much for some? Not going to answer that one!

zagfles

coolesticeking wrote: »

Be careful for what you wish for and what you want the EU to look into.

Yipppeeeee - It's now cheaper to send a text message from the EU than from the UK.

Do the same with Data and you know what will happen in the UK - You will pay higher rates in the UK to compensate for the 2 week holiday you had in the sun.

Yes. So? Next you'll get people whinging they won't get their "free" phone subsidised by roaming. The fact is roaming rates were a rip off, and they were ripping off one lot of customers to subsidise another lot.

I'd rather have it cheaper in the UK and stuff the EU or anywhere else.

IOW you'd rather you someone else subsidises your chosen use.

Roaming is a luxury facility - If you can afford to use it fair play to you, go for it.

I can afford it because the mobile operators are no longer allowed to rip us off:D. Not in the EU anyway, for calls and texts.

What we all need to remember is a mobile company is a business not a charity, for example we get free calls in the UK unlike the USA who have to pay.

We don't get "free" calls. If you mean free incoming, that's because in the US they don't have these ridiculous termination charges we do here, here the cost is passed onto the caller.

In the US you can call a mobile from any phone and the cost is always the same as calling a landline.

What i'm getting at is they have to make money some way or another and if they put more caps on roaming usage we will just pay for it back in the UK.

Of course we will. The point is that one lot of customers were being ripped off. Is that is somehow supposed to be "justified" by another lot getting a subsidy?

Tell you what, your council should double their council tax, and give the excess to my council so I don't have to pay anything.

It seems due to all these caps and limitations that the cost for both PAYG and Contract out of bundle costs are just going as high as they were when mobiles started to become popular.

I remember when Vodafone PAYG used to cost 2p/Min in the Weekends - Gosh look at it now.

7p/min at the weekends, and evenings, with a cap of 21p for a whole hour. (On SmartPlus with Stop the Clock).

DUTR

zagfles wrote: »

Yes. So? Next you'll get people whinging they won't get their "free" phone subsidised by roaming. The fact is roaming rates were a rip off, and they were ripping off one lot of customers to subsidise another lot.

You have been asked though already, why is it a rip off? What price would you consider reasonable? Why is that so difficult to answer? Why is it that when some folk go abroad their data rate suddenly in the short time they are away be more than what they usually use in a month?

zagfles

DUTR wrote: »

You have been asked though already, why is it a rip off? What price would you consider reasonable? Why is that so difficult to answer? Why is it that when some folk go abroad their data rate suddenly in the short time they are away be more than what they usually use in a month?

Try reading the OP. 250 times more expensive, and you don't think that's a rip-off:rotfl:?

A 20% uplift would be reasonable. Or like they used to do 10 years ago, charge the local network's price (usually similar or even cheaper than the home price) with an uplift of maybe 20-30%.

Not a 25000% uplift. If you don't think that's a rip-off, then what is?

DUTR

zagfles wrote: »

Try reading the OP. 250 times more expensive, and you don't think that's a rip-off:rotfl:?

A 20% uplift would be reasonable. Or like they used to do 10 years ago, charge the local network's price (usually similar or even cheaper than the home price) with an uplift of maybe 20-30%.

Not a 25000% uplift. If you don't think that's a rip-off, then what is?

I'm still waiting for a £/mb rate that is what I'm asking, data does not really cost me any extra at the moment as my allowance is inclusive, so a 20% mark up is still inclusive, the going rate 10yrs ago was around £1/mb , I was paying Orange £4 for 4mb at the time, other operators were charging more, so in that respect the rates are still about the same. I think I have answered your question, in that I don't think it is a rip off, it is clear some are using the feature above their need and ability to pay for the service. When I last visited Spain I think a 1gb allowance costs €20, still a lot more pricey than it was in the UK, but less than using the roaming agreement.

TakeThis

DUTR wrote: »

I'm still waiting for a £/mb rate that is what I'm asking, data does not really cost me any extra at the moment as my allowance is inclusive, so a 20% mark up is still inclusive, the going rate 10yrs ago was around £1/mb , I was paying Orange £4 for 4mb at the time, other operators were charging more, so in that respect the rates are still about the same. I think I have answered your question, in that I don't think it is a rip off, it is clear some are using the feature above their need and ability to pay for the service. When I last visited Spain I think a 1gb allowance costs €20, still a lot more pricey than it was in the UK, but less than using the roaming agreement.

You seem to be muddying your own argument here. If you are acknowledging that it costs just 20 Euros for 1GB of data in Spain, that why is it that Orange UK can charge you over 1000 euros for the same 1GB of data in Spain?
Also, quite why are you expecting Zagfles to come up with a price per MB?
Your argument is poor and you are resorting to scraping the barrel.

O2 have put a cap on charges and usage, so why can't Orange?

If they wish their customers to have access to unlimited data, then perhaps they can crate a sliding scale of charges.
Their current position is untenable and will bring them only a worsening reputation.

DUTR

TakeThis wrote: »

You seem to be muddying your own argument here. If you are acknowledging that it costs just 20 Euros for 1GB of data in Spain, that why is it that Orange UK can charge you over 1000 euros for the same 1GB of data in Spain?
Also, quite why are you expecting Zagfles to come up with a price per MB?
Your argument is poor and you are resorting to scraping the barrel.

O2 have put a cap on charges and usage, so why can't Orange?

If they wish their customers to have access to unlimited data, then perhaps they can crate a sliding scale of charges.
Their current position is untenable and will bring them only a worsening reputation.

€20 is still more expensive than we pay here and that was using a local sim in a dongle and/or unlocked handset, I have no issue with the charges , I just get tired of the immature "it's a rip off"' cries
O2 and Orange are different companies and work on their own individual business model. As a customer you have a choice whether to be with O2 or Orange and since you can port your number then there is no need to remain with one provider.
We see stories that MSP charged £2000 for roaming charges, now if that is at £8/mb then it is reasonable to assume the person used on the way to 250mb for a short break away, even if another MSP charged £4/mb the bill would still be a good £1000, still a lot of money for a short break, since there are alternative methods of connection, then obviously the charge levied is for the convenience, so I fail to see why it is a rip off.

zagfles

DUTR wrote: »

I'm still waiting for a £/mb rate that is what I'm asking, data does not really cost me any extra at the moment as my allowance is inclusive, so a 20% mark up is still inclusive, the going rate 10yrs ago was around £1/mb , I was paying Orange £4 for 4mb at the time, other operators were charging more, so in that respect the rates are still about the same. I think I have answered your question, in that I don't think it is a rip off, it is clear some are using the feature above their need and ability to pay for the service. When I last visited Spain I think a 1gb allowance costs €20, still a lot more pricey than it was in the UK, but less than using the roaming agreement.

Why does there need to be a figure per Mb? Because the other thing about going abroad is that you waste your allowance - you can't (generally) use your inclusive allowance of minutes/texts/data abroad, which you've already paid for. So they are wasted as well as being ripped off on the charges.

You should be able to use your allowance abroad, subject to either a daily fixed charged for foreign usage or a 20% or so reduction in your allowance (so for instance if you use 100Mb that counts as 120Mb off your allowance).

Sort of similar to the way Vodafone Passport works for calls.

TakeThis

DUTR wrote: »

€20 is still more expensive than we pay here and that was using a local sim in a dongle and/or unlocked handset, I have no issue with the charges , I just get tired of the immature "it's a rip off"' cries
O2 and Orange are different companies and work on their own individual business model. As a customer you have a choice whether to be with O2 or Orange and since you can port your number then there is no need to remain with one provider.
We see stories that MSP charged £2000 for roaming charges, now if that is at £8/mb then it is reasonable to assume the person used on the way to 250mb for a short break away, even if another MSP charged £4/mb the bill would still be a good £1000, still a lot of money for a short break, since there are alternative methods of connection, then obviously the charge levied is for the convenience, so I fail to see why it is a rip off.

I think that you should stop before your reputation sinks into the mud.
Claiming that the high bills amounts are being fabricated by customers is just ridiculous.
Charging £8 per MB without a cap is simply untenable. Any billing and administration charges would have been long since covered, probably with the first few MB.
It is a ripoff and Orange are clearly aware of the problem.

Why is it that Orange is featured fairly exclusively in these threads?

People don't mind paying higher bills after going abroad. It is somehow expected. But Orange need to wind their necks in on this one.

DUTR

zagfles wrote: »

Why does there need to be a figure per Mb? Because the other thing about going abroad is that you waste your allowance - you can't (generally) use your inclusive allowance of minutes/texts/data abroad, which you've already paid for. So they are wasted as well as being ripped off on the charges.

You should be able to use your allowance abroad, subject to either a daily fixed charged for foreign usage or a 20% or so reduction in your allowance (so for instance if you use 100Mb that counts as 120Mb off your allowance).

Sort of similar to the way Vodafone Passport works for calls.

There needs to be a price per mb as it clarifies your viewpoint, eg I would like a new car, with the options it would cost me just over £30k, right now I cannot justify spending £31k on a car (the one I have is running fine) but the new car is not a rip off, it's just that I cannot justify the price right now. I like your idea of the using the bundle, although I think the 20% mark up is a little too lean, O2 offer 4texts =1 for use abroad and that still seems to work well.
Look at it another way, if fewer people used data roaming then the price may drop to encourage usage, but if people are going to abuse it, then the networks are correct to keep the prices at a point where it prohibits that.
Ok what if the networks said, "ok you wanna use data abroad? " Pay the cap per week prior to travelling billing date and have unlimited use subject to FUP or pay the £/mb rate.
People would still moan.