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phone service in AUS ...



 
 
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  #11  
Old May 29th, 2004, 09:49 AM
Alan
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Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

On Fri, 28 May 2004 19:58:03 -0700, "4000 psi"
wrote:

Different carriers have different policies for subscribers whose credits
have expired. With Vodafone you can no longer dial out or sms - but you
continue to receive calls and sms messages for a time!!


don't you get billed for both outgoing and incoming calls on a mobile ... if
you can still get calls for a time after charges have expired are these
incoming calls free?

do the mobile contracts include long distance service?


In Australia all incoming calls, mobile or fixed, are free. That is, as
long as you've paid for the basic service, there is no extra charge for
receiving calls.

It was quite a surprise (an unpleasant one) to find that wasn't the case
overseas.

On mobiles, it varies, but there is usually no difference between long
distance and local. It is more expensive to call overseas.

As I said earlier, it's complex. Check out the sites I mentioned. It
also depends on where you intend to go. There are some country areas
where GSM will not give coverage but CDMA does. There are vast areas
where the only coverage possible is satellite. So it also depends on how
critical instant communications are to you. If you intend wandering the
outback, sometimes a combination of CDMA and CB radio may be the more
inexpensive option, which is the way my mum does it in her motorhome. We
sometimes spent a week or two out of range in the caravan, then answered
a load of message bank queries on the mobile as soon as we got back to
civilization.

If you intend staying around Brisbane, GSM is fine but it will depend on
how long you intend being here and how much you will use the phone - for
outgoing only, incoming don't matter for cost. Some of the "cheap"
contracts are commitments for twelve or 24 months.

If you are only here for a short time, a pre-paid recharge card may be
best.

Cheers, Alan
--
  #12  
Old May 29th, 2004, 12:49 PM
A Mate
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Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

Last year - I used local pre-paid sims in Ireland, Italy and Turkey. NO
charge for incoming!!

I also used Fido in Canada - a charge for incoming calls - and very poor
coverage. gsm is not the main cell system in Canada!!


"Alan" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 May 2004 14:47:52 +1000, "A Mate"
wrote:

You only pay for incoming mobile calls in the USA and Canada as far as I
know. Certainly you only pay for outgoing in Australia and NZ (and
Europe!!).

All mobile phones pay the same for 'long distance' as for local (That

'long
distance higher rates' for cell phones is another North American

speciality.
All mobile phones have access to all network services.


Almost all of the EU countries charge for incoming.
At least they did last year, when I was there.

Cheers, Alan
--



  #13  
Old May 29th, 2004, 01:59 PM
Alan
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Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

On Sat, 29 May 2004 21:49:55 +1000, "A Mate"
wrote:

Last year - I used local pre-paid sims in Ireland, Italy and Turkey. NO
charge for incoming!!



Maybe not for pre-paid. I was on Telstra roaming:

Ireland:
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/pro...eratorid=28071
or http://tinyurl.com/2cz5e

gives incoming at AU$0.41, with a setup of AU$0.40. On the same site,
you can check Turkey ($0.80,$0.40) or Italy ($0.45, $0.40). I suspect it
is factored into the overall cost on pre-paids, because talking to
locals in Italy we confirmed that incoming was charged on their normal
mobiles, not just something Telstra added on. It varied a little in cost
between servers, and was something we checked before choosing when
roaming.

Australia is one of the very few countries that doesn't charge for
incoming. We travelled 14 countries in Europe. All charged incoming.
It's one reason we left the phone off most of the time, and called
people back or emailed after checking messages. It's hard to politely
get people to shut up when they don't realise it's costing you as well
as them.

The OP may find that his local service has roaming agreements with
Telstra or Optus, this may solve his problem, as it did ours, provided
his frequencies are compatible. We only had bi, not tri, so couldn't
roam in the USA.

Cheers, Alan
--
  #14  
Old May 29th, 2004, 02:09 PM
Dave Campbell
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Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...


"Alan" wrote in message
...

In Australia all incoming calls, mobile or fixed, are free. That is, as
long as you've paid for the basic service, there is no extra charge for
receiving calls.

It was quite a surprise (an unpleasant one) to find that wasn't the case
overseas.

On mobiles, it varies, but there is usually no difference between long
distance and local. It is more expensive to call overseas.

As I said earlier, it's complex. Check out the sites I mentioned. It
also depends on where you intend to go. There are some country areas
where GSM will not give coverage but CDMA does. There are vast areas
where the only coverage possible is satellite. So it also depends on how
critical instant communications are to you. If you intend wandering the
outback, sometimes a combination of CDMA and CB radio may be the more
inexpensive option, which is the way my mum does it in her motorhome. We
sometimes spent a week or two out of range in the caravan, then answered
a load of message bank queries on the mobile as soon as we got back to
civilization.

If you intend staying around Brisbane, GSM is fine but it will depend on
how long you intend being here and how much you will use the phone - for
outgoing only, incoming don't matter for cost. Some of the "cheap"
contracts are commitments for twelve or 24 months.

If you are only here for a short time, a pre-paid recharge card may be
best.

Cheers, Alan
--

As stated by a few contributors, incoming calls to a mobile service are
free - provided you are contracted to an Australian network provider. If you
are using an overseas phone and global roaming, you will pay for incoming
and outgoing calls. (Not that this is likely to be a situation you find
yourself in. US cell phones don't work in Aus.)

In terms of network coverage, it's a bit hit-and-miss once you get away from
the main population centres. A few weeks back I was near Beechworth (Vic)
and, out of a group of us using various networks (Telstra CDMA, Optus
Telstra and Vodafone GSM) I was the only one who got any service, and that
was with Telstra GSM. Even other Telstra GSM users didn't get a signal. CB
radio is good for staying in touch with other members of your party, but if
you're really going seriously outback it's worth considering hiring an HF
(RFDS) radio. It costs, but 24-hour emergency watch is reassuring. Take a
look at http://www.rfds.org.au/hfradio.htm for a description.

There is, or was, a bit of a quirk with the pricing of Telstra's GSM. For
national calls, you pay whatever your contracted rate may be. For
international calls, you pay the fixed line rate plus an "air-time" charge.
Not sure if it still works, but recently it was cheaper for me to phone
Singapore than to phone somebody in the next street.

Dave Campbell


  #15  
Old May 29th, 2004, 04:26 PM
Frank Slootweg
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Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

Alan wrote:
On Sat, 29 May 2004 21:49:55 +1000, "A Mate"
wrote:

Last year - I used local pre-paid sims in Ireland, Italy and Turkey. NO
charge for incoming!!


Maybe not for pre-paid. I was on Telstra roaming:

Ireland:
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/pro...eratorid=28071
or http://tinyurl.com/2cz5e

gives incoming at AU$0.41, with a setup of AU$0.40. On the same site,
you can check Turkey ($0.80,$0.40) or Italy ($0.45, $0.40). I suspect it
is factored into the overall cost on pre-paids, because talking to
locals in Italy we confirmed that incoming was charged on their normal
mobiles, not just something Telstra added on. It varied a little in cost
between servers, and was something we checked before choosing when
roaming.

Australia is one of the very few countries that doesn't charge for
incoming. We travelled 14 countries in Europe. All charged incoming.
It's one reason we left the phone off most of the time, and called
people back or emailed after checking messages. It's hard to politely
get people to shut up when they don't realise it's costing you as well
as them.


You were charged for incoming because you used an *Australian* mobile
phone (/SIM) while *outside* Australia. I.e. you have an Australian
phone number, but are outside Australia.

That is normal, i.e. as soon as I take my Dutch mobile phone outside
The Netherlands, I pay for incoming calls. What I pay is the part which
is *not* payed by the caller. The idea is that the caller has no way of
knowing that I am not in The Netherlands, so it is not fair for hir to
pay for the fact that I happen to be abroad, so (s)he pays the normal
local Dutch rate (i.e. so to speak "to the border") and I pay the rest,
i.e. "from the Dutch border" to whereever I happen to be.

So it seems that in the civilized world, there is no charge for an
incoming call to a local mobile phone number! :-)

[deleted]
  #16  
Old May 29th, 2004, 05:17 PM
Tinkie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...


you pay for incoming and outgoing calls on canadian mobiles as well and
its a nasty suprise on your bill if you forget that.. but their local
calls are free, just your line rental per month unlike the per call
charge in Aus.

For phone service in Aus the best thing to do is work
out what your going to be using it for first because a lot of the mobile
phone plans are tailored towards specific uses (free minutes at night,
lower cost calls to mobiles within their network etc etc). Its probably
best to start off with a prepaid plan rather than a contract until you
have time to really look around, you don't want to get stuck with a
contract you don't like. Have a look around on their websites and get
an idea of what they are offering before deciding


www.telstra.com.au[/url]
]www.vodaphone.com.au

www.optus.com.au[/url]
]www.virgin.com.au


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com
  #17  
Old May 30th, 2004, 12:36 PM
Dave Proctor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

On Fri, 28 May 2004 19:58:03 -0700, "4000 psi"
wrote:

Different carriers have different policies for subscribers whose credits
have expired. With Vodafone you can no longer dial out or sms - but you
continue to receive calls and sms messages for a time!!


don't you get billed for both outgoing and incoming calls on a mobile ... if
you can still get calls for a time after charges have expired are these
incoming calls free?


We are not like that uncivilised country known as the Untied States
which charges you when people wing YOU.

Dave

=====

NSW Rural Fire Service - become a volunteer today.

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/
  #18  
Old May 30th, 2004, 12:39 PM
Dave Proctor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

On 29 May 2004 15:26:26 GMT, Frank Slootweg
wrote:

So it seems that in the civilized world, there is no charge for an
incoming call to a local mobile phone number! :-)


One of the reasons for this though is that most of the world clearly
distinguished mobile phone numbers from other numbers - ALL Australian
mobile phone numbers start with 04, for example, so it is apparent
that you are calling a mobile - you know you are going to pay for it.

In the Untied States, there is no such clear distinction, with mobiles
sharing the same area codes as landlines. Hence, it is not clear
whether you are calling a mobile or a landline. In cases such as this
it is only fair to charge the receiver of the call.

(And they call this country a "world leader"! ROFL )

Dave

=====

NSW Rural Fire Service - become a volunteer today.

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/
  #19  
Old July 8th, 2004, 06:17 PM
Merlin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

Calling Australia Cell phones is pretty cheap! Buy a calling card for your cell
and you are all set!

Merlin


--
GLOBO - Travel Community
http://www.globosapiens.net

Travel pictures, travelogues


Dave Proctor wrote:

On Fri, 28 May 2004 19:58:03 -0700, "4000 psi"
wrote:


Different carriers have different policies for subscribers whose credits
have expired. With Vodafone you can no longer dial out or sms - but you
continue to receive calls and sms messages for a time!!


don't you get billed for both outgoing and incoming calls on a mobile ... if
you can still get calls for a time after charges have expired are these
incoming calls free?



We are not like that uncivilised country known as the Untied States
which charges you when people wing YOU.

Dave

=====

NSW Rural Fire Service - become a volunteer today.

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/

  #20  
Old July 8th, 2004, 06:17 PM
Merlin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default phone service in AUS ...

Calling Australia Cell phones is pretty cheap! Buy a calling card for your cell
and you are all set!

Merlin


--
GLOBO - Travel Community
http://www.globosapiens.net

Travel pictures, travelogues


Dave Proctor wrote:

On Fri, 28 May 2004 19:58:03 -0700, "4000 psi"
wrote:


Different carriers have different policies for subscribers whose credits
have expired. With Vodafone you can no longer dial out or sms - but you
continue to receive calls and sms messages for a time!!


don't you get billed for both outgoing and incoming calls on a mobile ... if
you can still get calls for a time after charges have expired are these
incoming calls free?



We are not like that uncivilised country known as the Untied States
which charges you when people wing YOU.

Dave

=====

NSW Rural Fire Service - become a volunteer today.

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/

 




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