* Posts by Patrick

1 publicly visible post • joined 5 Mar 2008

Should Europeans pay to receive phone calls?

Patrick

Bad Information

This article doesn't really represent the American phone industry very well.

In terms of landlines, in many - but not all - locations, your monthly bill includes free local calls. Some phone companies still have a per minute charge for local calls unless you buy an additional bundle. Receiving calls on a landline is free unless you accept a collect call.

Mobile phones are a different story. The government would not allow area codes specific to mobile phones, which prevented companies from being able to charge extra for calls from landlines to mobiles (callers wouldn't necessarily know they were calling a mobile, after all). Back in 2006, I paid around $60/month for my mobile, which included 600 minutes per month, plus unlimited nights and weekends (nights started at 9pm and ended at 6am). The big companies have just started offering unlimited calls for around $100 (about £50).

Pagers, while not dead, are definitely a dying breed. Doctors are probably the biggest group that still carries them, since mobiles often aren't allowed in hospitals.

Texting can be expensive in the States, but you can buy plans that make it affordable, and, of course, you can find data plans that are generally as good or better than the ones here.