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latts

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2008
168
105
Link

This is the reason I am on Smarty.
5G and EU roaming…
Buy my iPhone outright and I can change my contract on a rolling 30 days.

The days of the 24 month contracts are numbered…
Same reason I moved to SMARTY mobile too.

Ridiculous they are part of the 3 network (company) and yet 3 reintroduced roaming charges and SMARTY remains inclusive Figure that one out!
 

MLVC

macrumors demi-god
Apr 30, 2015
1,603
3,745
Maastricht, The Netherlands
You’re still missing the key reasons. Being in control of laws and not being dictated to by faceless, unelected bureaucrats. Some things won’t be as good, I.e. roaming charges, unless they can also be negotiated of course. Key fundamentals, such as sovereignty, will be positive. The number of times I’ve been lectured for voting Brexit because someone has to get a pet passport….. It beggars belief that people use these insignificant criteria to decide how they are going to vote on something as hard-fought for as sovereignty.

I can't believe that after 6 years people still spout that nonsense "unelected bureaucrats" coming from a country that's arguable less democratic than the EU. Didn't even read the rest of your post as you immediately disqualify yourself right there.
 

ForkHandles

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2012
463
1,106
Curse those overbearing EU regulators. Don't they know they're stifling innovation -- or something -- by not letting network operators collect excess profit? If the free market wanted no roaming charges, the free market would demand it!
To be fair I don’t think they are against excess profit. The eu protect the single market. If you buy Netflix in France it must also be accessible in all other eu countries s as it operates as one giant market place.
 
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AppleTO

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2018
948
2,413
Toronto, Canada
I wish plans in Canada were as cheap as the EU. I think we pay the some of highest prices in the world. ‘Unlimited’ plans are generally over $100 a month and then they throttle you to like 100kbps after 20GB because of their ‘fair use’ policies, which is obviously all BS.

5G is basically pointless here. Even with an unlimited plan, you’ll just get throttled after almost nothing (relatively speaking these days). With 5G you’ll just reach that point sooner.
 
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ForkHandles

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2012
463
1,106
I can't believe that after 6 years people still spout that nonsense "unelected bureaucrats" coming from a country that's arguable less democratic than the EU. Didn't even read the rest of your post as you immediately disqualify yourself right there.
Agree. A country is a collection of millions of people.
I know lots of people who lost something of value; a right to live, work, roam and retire in 27 countries, a right to import export goods without customs processes and taxes etc.

That would be ok if it was balanced out by millions of people who personally won something to make their lives better/easier/simpler. So far I havent met anyone who benefited, which implies that the country, as a whole, lost.
That makes me very angry.
 

jlc1978

macrumors 603
Aug 14, 2009
5,529
4,323
Okay let’s say you live in Texas, but you need to travel to New Mexico to pick up your birth control prescription. But your phone plan only covers Texas, so you’re hit with roaming charges as soon as you use data across the border.

Except virtually every US plan has no roaming fees anywhere in the US, and often Canada and Mexico. TMobile even has unlimited low speed text and data in over 210 countries for no extra charge.

So how is it a bad thing for consumers that there is a regulating authority which stops this from happening?

The wouldn't have to if the EU ruly was one common market like the US.

FWIW I pay €20 a month for 12 GB of data and 150 minutes of voice. I can go to Germany or Denmark or Italy and not pay any extra roaming charges. It just works. It’s good for everyone.

Data caps and limiting voice calls is so 1990's.

At the risk of interrupting a Brexit kerfuffle, I would happily pay the UK's £2 per day roaming fee rather than the extortionate roaming fees US carriers charge for Europe.

I use TMobile because not only is it inexpensive but when I am in Europe text and low speed data are included. While the data is low speed it's fast enough for What's App calls, web surfing, etc, streaming is a no go generally.

Rates in the US are very expensive and data caps are ridiculously low.
No US company offers a low price with 100Gb.
That’s a very good price for your plan.

You need to look again. You can get unlimited data from various carriers for as low as $15/month. $30 is pretty much the norm. Since I have multiple lines I pay about $20/month per line.

Brexit cannot be "overturned" since it has truly and completely destroyed the UK's EU membership. It's done and over.

I bet if the UK changed their mind the EU would welcome them back in a fast accession track. Once Scotland decides to leave the UK it will be interesting to see how the EU treats the Scot's application to rejoin.
 
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jlc1978

macrumors 603
Aug 14, 2009
5,529
4,323
Agree. A country is a collection of millions of people.
I know lots of people who lost something of value; a right to live, work, roam and retire in 27 countries, a right to import export goods without customs processes and taxes etc.

I have a family member in the UK who was taken their as a young child by her parents; she is getting her EU citizenship back through her parent's EU citizenship. She wants to be able to easily travel and return there if she wants for retirement. I suspect she is not alone in UK citizens getting dual citizenship.

A number of the Brits near us in Portugal packed up post-Brexit and left because they worried they would lose all the benefits they had as EU citizens. It was sad since they had decided to retire there and were part of the community.
 

Somian

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2011
294
418
Fort Wayne, IN
I was trying to draw a parallel between the USA and Europe. Crossing country borders happens just as often as crossing state lines.

It would be ridiculous if your phone plan wasn’t valid in the entirety of the USA. Likewise, it now seems ridiculous for a phone plan not to be valid in the entire EU.

About prices: it’s another 5 euros or something for unlimited voice and data but I don’t need that much. I barely use 6 GB a month.
Exactly. I was just in Germany in May and was surprised that this worked (haven’t been to Europe in years and last time I was there roaming was still a mess).

I bought a 15€ Phone plan from T-Mobile (Germany) using my e-sim. And used that for a month in networks in Germany, Austria, Czechia, France… it just works. (I didn’t even intend to go to France but my route went through France) I was even on the phone using the hands-free when I entered France.

You only really notice that the road signs look different 😄
 

JustSomebody12

macrumors 6502
Mar 16, 2020
336
365
The EU tends to be good at protecting consumer rights (better than here in the States) so I'm not surprised but I'm happy to see.

Also pardon my ignorance, but why is it that regulations there expire after a certain amount of time and have be renewed?
Both because EU regulations work more like trade deals between member states than federal law, and because this way lawmakers are compelled to check a law is up-to-date or to let it expire, the USB-C regulation is similar.
 

one more

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,562
5,744
Earth
Seriously u pay 20€ for that or it was just an example???

I seriously pay 24.99€ per month for 70GB of data, including roaming in Switzerland and Andorra (outside of the EU), unlimited calls and texts, free calls to US/Canada and any landline numbers in Europe. This is with a French provider. If I did not need Switzerland (I do), I could have easily gotten a much cheaper plan (around 15€ per months) for about 100 GB of data. And this is all on a monthly-rolling contract without any commitment, so you can cancel at any time.
 

Damian83

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2011
505
276
I seriously pay 24.99€ per month for 70GB of data, including roaming in Switzerland and Andorra (outside of the EU), unlimited calls and texts, free calls to US/Canada and any landline numbers in Europe. This is with a French provider. If I did not need Switzerland (I do), I could have easily gotten a much cheaper plan (around 15€ per months) for about 100 GB of data. And this is all on a monthly-rolling contract without any commitment, so you can cancel at any time.
ah ok, because 20€ for 12gb and 150min seemed too much :)
 

MLVC

macrumors demi-god
Apr 30, 2015
1,603
3,745
Maastricht, The Netherlands
I seriously pay 24.99€ per month for 70GB of data, including roaming in Switzerland and Andorra (outside of the EU), unlimited calls and texts, free calls to US/Canada and any landline numbers in Europe. This is with a French provider. If I did not need Switzerland (I do), I could have easily gotten a much cheaper plan (around 15€ per months) for about 100 GB of data. And this is all on a monthly-rolling contract without any commitment, so you can cancel at any time.
I pay 27,50 EUR for unlimited everything, including roaming in the EEA countries and the UK, and 35GB for the US. Monthly contract (Dutch provider).
 
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jlc1978

macrumors 603
Aug 14, 2009
5,529
4,323
"The wouldn't have to if the EU ruly was one common market like the US."

What about the 50 different federal laws then??

I think you are referring to state laws, as Federal law is done at the Federal level and uniform across all states. Interstate commerce is regulated at the Federal level. If laws conflict, Federal law prevails. The issue, as I see it, with cellular in the EU is the companies aren't really pan-EU but country specific in many cases, with subsidiaries in various countries. As a result, legislation is required to try to end a lot of the issues caused by geographic boundaries taht do not occur in the US market.

TMobile, for example, doesn't care if you have a NY phone number but live in California. It's still all the same Tmobile; and the same price and services.

Can you get a German phone #, with an account in Germany, and use it permanently, or even mostly, in say Portugal without hitting caps or extra charges for excessive roaming? The answer, per the EU, seems to be No:

Warning
If you use your mobile phone abroad permanently, for example if you move abroad and keep using your sim card from your home country, your mobile operator may charge you extra for roaming. However, these charges are capped under the fair use policy.

and

Monitoring roaming use

As part of their fair use policy, your operator can monitor and check your roaming use over a 4 month period. If, during this period, you have spent more time abroad than at home AND your roaming use exceeds your domestic use, your operator may contact you and ask you to clarify your situation. You will have 14 days to do so.

If you continue to spend more time abroad than you do at home and your roaming consumption continues to exceed your domestic usage your operator may start charging you extra for your roaming use. The surcharges (excluding VAT) are capped at:


  • €0.032 per minute of voice calls made
  • €0.01 per SMS
  • €3 per GB of data (cap in 2021)
That is why I say it isn't really one common market in this case. It is not uncommon for someone to have a mobile number from an area where they do not live; often because that's been their number for years and don't want the hassle of changing it and getting a new number to all their contacts.
 

Sean J

macrumors member
Apr 28, 2021
38
34
Brexit working out well for us then :)
Yes it does because roaming charges were still made between companies. All the EU’s regulation ensures is that the roaming charges received from foreign telcos are then charged to ALL their customers rather than those customers who were abroad. Essentially, mobile owners who couldn’t afford foreign holidays were subsidising the mobile phone usage of those that did.

(I worked for a major U.K. telco for best part of a decade.)
 
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Gog2495

macrumors newbie
Apr 27, 2021
19
6
I guess EU bureaucrats do have their value. If it was up to the carriers we consumers would be paying roaming costs, through the nose!
Contrary to what some believe (or are led to believe), free-market is not always a good thing!!
 

Psychicbob

Cancelled
Oct 2, 2018
631
1,780
Did you get a chance to review the facts regarding the Ireland referendums?

I was just wondering whether, if you did, that you are questioning who fed you those half truths.

Maybe in turn you are starting to question other half truths such as ’unelected burócrats’ and ‘illegal migrants’
Yes, I have seen nothing to change my opinion. Seems to be important stuff was hidden in indirect policies. Sleight of hand. You seem obsessed with my viewpoint. Very much how the EU shills work. Perhaps you should spend your time elsewhere, trying to brainwash someone else?
 

MrMojo1

macrumors 6502a
Aug 25, 2010
600
698
New England
You need to look again. You can get unlimited data from various carriers for as low as $15/month. $30 is pretty much the norm. Since I have multiple lines I pay about $20/month per line.
You need to look again also but at Individual plans not family plans.
Not everyone has a family plan to split the costs with others.
Individual plans are More expensive compared to family plans.
Don't need Unlimited data plans as that's costly and surrounded by wifi. Just enough for traveling like using the GPS.
Many of the Individual plans in the U.S. with Unlimited data plans start in the $40s... T-Mobile, Xfinity Mobile, ATT & Verizon.
Some of the prepaid plans are better like Mint Mobile, esp. for limited data plans.
 

ForkHandles

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2012
463
1,106
Yes, I have seen nothing to change my opinion. Seems to be important stuff was hidden in indirect policies. Sleight of hand. You seem obsessed with my viewpoint. Very much how the EU shills work. Perhaps you should spend your time elsewhere, trying to brainwash someone else?
No brainwashing intended Bob. I was just trying to help you onto a road, free of paranoia about 'the elites' , and free of a need to hate everything Paul Dacre tells you hate. Kindly meant. Be well.
 
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