Charges for connecting to "maritime" networks without consent - how do they get away with this?

PHK

Getting on a boat means you are no longer IN your departure country nor the destination country. 

I think most people understand that islands are separated by international waters where there are no phone masts.

Bricks

PHK said:

Getting on a boat means you are no longer IN your departure country nor the destination country. 

I think most people understand that islands are separated by international waters where there are no phone masts.

So if I get on a boat that travels between two islands within the same country, then the moment I step on the boat, I am no longer in rhat country?

southsidergs

This very much screams "I got caught & instead of accepting it I'm going to act like a child & shout & scream about it"

FWIW I was on a ferry to Northern Ireland earlier this year & the ferry company warned of it via announcements plus my provider sent a text warning too (0 spend cap though) so it seems very much like the OP never paid attebtion or checked things first hence my first line.....

PHK

Bricks said:

PHK said:

Getting on a boat means you are no longer IN your departure country nor the destination country. 

I think most people understand that islands are separated by international waters where there are no phone masts.

So if I get on a boat that travels between two islands within the same country, then the moment I step on the boat, I am no longer in rhat country?

Possibly yes. There's nothing to say that a mobile operator is lincensed to cover a whole country. We have local licenses in this country for certain local uses. And multi island countries often have different licenses for different islands.

A very well known example: If you go to the US they have national roaming because operators cover certain areas. (It's one reason why incoming calls and texts are included in your minutes in the US)

WelshPaul

Mobile roaming doesn’t imply that you’re out of a certain country, at sea or in the air. It simply means at that point in time (when a call was made, sms sent or data used) you were roaming on a network other than the home network. This is easily done and if you don’t want to incur additional charges, configure your device appropriately. SIMPLES!!!

Bricks

No one is addressing the question of how a regular UK consumer, should reasonably come to be aware of the fact that if they get on a ferry from their home country to another country which they've checked is within their roaming allowances, their phone is liable to automatically connect to a network that has charges for data that are so high no-one would do it by choice.

Nor does anyone seem interested in the motives of the ferry company and/or the maritime network provider, in installing such a service on board. Again, the data charges are so high that no-one would choose to connect to it, especially given that wi-fi networks are available on board.

I get it, there is some self-satisfaction in being able to post about how you yourself are sufficiently superior to the regular person in your knowledge, planning and research that you can avoid getting caught ought. Many congratulations. But I think that we are looking at a situation that is set up with the intention of catching people out, and I don't see why this shouldn't be questioned or challenged.

I only got charged £10 because I set my spend cap low. It's not the end of the world for me. I'm complaining out of principle, because I don't think it's ok to deliberately trap people in this way. I don't think it's ok to impose a financial penalty as a punishment for not being aware of something, something that is not highlighted in a way that is intended to make sure as few people as possible get caught.

k12479

Bricks said:

Nor does anyone seem interested in the motives of the ferry company and/or the maritime network provider, in installing such a service on board. Again, the data charges are so high that no-one would choose to connect to it, especially given that wi-fi networks are available on board.

I'll give it a go.

According to Irish Ferries website - they offer 20 minutes free wifi (where "stream data (e.g.: YouTube, Netflix, online games, Skype etc.) is restricted") and "payable Premium WiFi service for a small fee on board certain ships".

So, if you've exceeded 20 mins and need data access where they don't offer Premium wifi then you're out of luck, unless you use the Telenor Maritime network.

Secondly, public wifi networks are often dismal, and this one clearly has limited capacity, so if you have something important to do, bypassing the wifi using network data direct would be an option.

Thirdly, Telenor Maritime are a 'global maritime mobile operator'. What mobile network operators don't offer data services in this day and age?

Lastly, 'Purple WiFi' is mentioned as the premium wifi provider. So it's possible the mobile network and the wifi come from different providers, in which case why would the former limit their revenue in favour of the latter? Or it all comes from Telenor and the offering is voice, data & wifi (split into free, likely paid for by Irish Ferries, and premium, paid for by the user) and if it was possible to exclude data, then someone would need to make up for that lost revenue.

PHK

Bricks said:

No one is addressing the question of how a regular UK consumer, should reasonably come to be aware of the fact that if they get on a ferry from their home country to another country which they've checked is within their roaming allowances, their phone is liable to automatically connect to a network that has charges for data that are so high no-one would do it by choice.

I can see why someone wouldn't want to pay that rate for social network notifications, or football results.

But if I urgently needed to check a business email about a contract then I would pay. Or if I was travelling to Ireland because of a gravely ill relative then I might also think it worthwhile. Or if I was reporting from on board and needed to send an article back. I can think of several more.

So I disagree that no-one would willingly pay that right. 

We don't see many complaints about maritime charges on the forum. And when there are it tends to be cruise ships. This suggests there isn't a massive scam but simply a few people who are not informed or did not think about thr situation.

WelshPaul

It's worth mentioning that cruise ships use Satellites to provide a phone service and that is why it costs so much. So, even though you're using a mobile phone, all calls, sms and data go over a sat phone connection. 

Bricks

WelshPaul said:

It's worth mentioning that cruise ships use Satellites to provide a phone service and that is why it costs so much. So, even though you're using a mobile phone, all calls, sms and data go over a sat phone connection. 

Nothing to do with having a captive (and at least partly inadvertent) market, and being outside of any pricing regulation?