[coolkarim]

Hi

I was wondering why is GPRS data so expensive to use.

at home (UK) on my BB it is 2 pounds per MB

I went to Morocco on holiday and it was 17 pounds per MB


why why why???!!!

the network cannot handle the volume? so its a deterrent to using it?

or just money making by the providers (a monopoly I guess)

cheers

[WWD]

Mobile services are more expensive in Europe, even voice...

I have experienced that when I traveled to France over the winter break.

[Dawgfan]

Older data networks are costlier to the carriers is one issue. I do not pretend to understand the global pricing market for data but I would seriously question the margins they are making on that data. Problem could be that lack of alternatives tosses margin as criteria out of the window. Sorry dude.

[cypherpunks]

They probably assume that business users are more likely the ones using data, thus they can get away with charging more.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by coolkarim

I was wondering why is GPRS data so expensive to use.

It's not if you're in the US...

[tobyw]

Originally Posted by coolkarim

Hi

I was wondering why is GPRS data so expensive to use.

at home (UK) on my BB it is 2 pounds per MB

I went to Morocco on holiday and it was 17 pounds per MB


why why why???!!!

the network cannot handle the volume? so its a deterrent to using it?

or just money making by the providers (a monopoly I guess)

cheers

I'm not entirely sure why, but I think the European Commission's current investigation into roaming charges (which I believe includes data roaming) gives a clue that they, at least, think that it might be to do with oligopolistic behaviour by the carriers.

Data pricing seems to be changing (slowly) on the home front in the UK. T-Mo gives me unlimited web access, subject to fair use, for £7.50 per month on top of my BlackBerry fee. This was one reason I chose them. If I recall correctly from a few months back, O2 was similar in pricing although it was capped at 75MB. However, Orange, for example had no flat rate plans so the potential for a huge bill would be ever present.

Roaming data charges are exhorbitant on most carriers. On a recent trip to the Netherlands I paid quite a bit for sole access to e-mail (I specifically didn't use the web) over a three day period. There is some light on the horizon though: for £20 IIRC, O2 offers unlimited roaming e-mail, although it seems this bolt-on is not particularly well advertised.

High prices mean that I will seriously think about turning data off before upcoming trips to Venice and Spain...