Wirelessly posted
Data works differently on a cellular network.
On a Cell Phone, everything gets linked back to your home carrier.
For example, I'm with Rogers and my home calling area is in Toronto. If I were in Australia, on Vodafone's network, for example, and I wanted to send an email to someone in Australia, the message would first go through Vodafone's network and handshake with Rogers' network. Then Rogers would relay that information to the internet.
Because of the handshake that must take place (phones must be somehow tied back to your home carrier's network to manage the services on your phone), that is why carriers charge roaming fees, to cover the extra cost of administering that handshake between carriers. While outside of your home network, you are essentially "renting" the usage of your local network. Similar to why you have to pay to rent a car when you are not home.
In most cases, as long as you are on your home carrier's network (the carrier your SIM card/phone is from, you shouldn't be charged extra. Please also note that carrier is country specific. For example, a T-Moble US customer would still get charged Roaming on a T-Mobile UK network.
I hope that helps.
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iLawCDN
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Last edited by iLawCDN; 02-10-2009 at 10:12 PM..
Reason: Spacing & Spelling
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