You mean this? http://mobile.free.fr/ I think your French is a little rusty, and those plans end up being a ton more expensive when all is said and done.
What's the catch? Can't we get a mobile plan for only 2 euros/month?
In any case, in the US, Ting and Family Mobile are pretty good deals.
That's not that cheap. Start at $15 for 100 minutes, 100 text and 100 MB.
They wouldn't have disappeared if the market was still dominated by regional companies.
Correct. So, market consolidation and increased concentration lowers costs.
Well you could argue that while there are no roaming charges within the US, prices are much higher than in the EU.
You could use the same argument within a single country. The average person only needs coverage in his home city, right? Why would roaming across France be free when you live in Paris?
Because the actual cost of roaming within a country is so low that it doesn't make much sense to account for it.
The actual cost of roaming between countries is a lot higher, so it does make sense to account for it and charge for it.
The only reason why roaming within a single country is low is because you usually don't roam as the operator will setup antennas to cover the whole country. If you are to roam on another operator, there is no reason why it should be more expensive just because it's in another country.
It is interesting to see how the EU and USA mobile markets evolved differently, which I attribute in part to the different cultural identity in the two places. US Companies see themselevs as US companies and so it was natural for them to dvelop a US network acrosss the entire country. The EU companies were more likly to seethemselves as French or German as were regulators in those countries who would protrct them from foriegn competition. As aresultyou have a very localized network rather than an EU wide network.
It's just as localized in the US. The US just happens to be a larger country. But go to Canada or Mexico and you will pay exorbitant roaming fees to.
Yes, and when costs got lower, it wasn't worth accounting for them anymore and they disappeared. All without government regulation.
They wouldn't have disappeared if the market was still dominated by regional companies.
But I said blackberry marketshare down while Windows Phone is growing.
And that was confusing, since both have their market share shrinking. Why would you compare Blackberry's market share to WP absolute sales? Either compare both market shares or both sales.
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed -- it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer. -- A.J. Perlis
