CHAT: Phones (was: Re: postcodes)

* Tristan said on 2002-09-24 18:41:41 +0200
> taliesin the storyteller wrote:
> > [..] with the cell phone-craze you got a new number each
> > time you got a new phone as the subscriptions in general didn't
> > carry over.
>
> Hm, really? You can keep them here... even if you change carriers
> (although that's a relatively knew thing).
You can here too, now, but that is a recent development.

> > The mid nineties marked the beginning of the cell phone epidemic
> > in my country. They were being sold for 1 NOK (~ 15 cents?) a piece,
> > and suddenly "everyone" had one.
>
> Is this actually being *sold* for 1 NOK or being made available for 1
> NOK and then putting you on a contract and expecting you to pay 30000
> NOK a month?
Back then some where actually *sold* that cheap yes, but not anymore.

I saw an add for a Nokia 3410 yesterday:
      1.00 NOK for the phone
    120.00 NOK a month in subscription
      1.77 NOK per minute called (only out-going)
      0.59 NOK per call (the so-called start-fee)
      1.00 NOK per SMS (the norm)

If you change carriers you have to pay the full price for the phone.

Needless to say, the carriers have a licence to print money. Especially
the SMS line their pockets as that's what the kids and leet teens over-use.

> Because you can get mobiles in Australia for $0 (not free; you go onto
> a contract) and I was still surprised that one of my younger brother's
> friends had a mobile...
I am too, really; there are people burning thousands of kroner each month
(usually on SMS), getting into depth because of this. Fortunately (?)
there are cash phones you "fill up" with a few hundred NOK a time so that
at least it's possible to see the money trickling away; this is the most
popular contract/subscription among the young. Unfortunately, there's
quite a bit of theft associated with this since the kids use their pocket
money for cash cards and then steal whatever else they need, or steal to
sell so they can afford cash cards... Nuts, really.

If you don't call very much at all (like yours truly), the cash cards are
great. I spend about a 1000 NOK a year on phone services, with a landline
you'd be hard-pressed to go under 1000 NOK per *quarter*.

But back on topic: if your concultures has phone-equivalents, what are they
called? Mine does but I don't know what they're called.


t., of the cash card brigade

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