Yes, but it's not any reason to block the calls at all as T-Mo US does :censored:

I don't understand....just who sets the termination fees when one calls a gsm caller pays network....the roaming partner, the receiving partner, the great gsm computer in the sky (doubt if it exists)....also for example rates to Estonia mobiles have shot through the roof too...Iceland mobiles haven't for the most part.

Callbackworld current rates which I use sort of as a benchmark....Liechtenstein mobiles 29¢/minute; Estonian mobiles 22¢/minutes, Iceland mobiles 15¢/minute, UK mobiles 40¢/minute...these are for calls from a free roaming partner to the USA which of course makes the Isle of Man mobiles the worst (although I think their naitive rate to call the USA is 19p/minute without using cbw which is a bit of a savings over cbw.

The "mobile termination rate" is the money that a CPP operator is paid from other operators which route incoming calls to it. It's set by the operator itself but may be the subject of intervention from the telecom regulator or the antimonopoly authority. I don't know if operators set different termination rates for calls originating from the home country and from abroad...

I doubt the networks are driving up their fees; in fact the regulators are occasionally cutting them. Maybe some other wholesale and retail providers are being rather cynical with their rates: 40 cents can't be justified when the wholesale termination fees are said to be of the order of 5 or 6p, and other retailers are around 15c to 25c, or even under 10.

As for T-mobile and UM - this seems to be the third time issues have surfaced between these companies - there was a time when T-com in Germany refused to allow its landlines to call such numbers

Could be but I still call to UM from the Netherlands from 8 eurocents per minute and there are other carriers at 10 or 12 or 14 cents per minute.

Also I do not see a reason for UM to really ask much more. If rates to their number go up this way they will become less popular and less people will use UM. So if it is UM that increases their rates this will turn back on them.

All quite puzzling. If it is the carrier (FL, UM) alone, it does not make much sense.

About 2 - 3 years ago, Enjoyprepaid (Noblecom) had very low rates. Did not take them long to go from something like 12 cents to 60 cents per minute. Onesuite followed a bit later (6 - 12 months) going from 14 to 25 cents per minute. Then CBW just this Spring ups the rates.

YET others like bbob and someone in US (can't recall name) using ATT are still reporting relatively low rates.

Why some and not others?

Why not all at once?

Stan

That's my feeling also...why would UM raise its termination rates so much which might discourage people from signing up. There's got to be more to it and I am a conspiracy person who sees conspiracies everywhere...somehow the roaming partners who see their income being sliced by people opting for the international cards have to have something to do with it!

I think you are right, the big telecom operators also have their own mobile companies and they make lots of money on roaming.
The EU did start law to lower these prices so their will be a maximum

First fase in aug 2007 is max 60 eurocents per call if you call outside your country and 29 eurcent if you are called in a different country. The next 2 years these rates are lowered to 52 en 23 cents.

Lots of operators in spain, italie al the tourist countries did complain because these operators are loosing lots of money on this.

Now we take the roaming free card which cost nothing to receive a call in many countries. Sure the big guys are not happy about these companies as this is costing them millions in roaming charges. As said most of them are also formal monopolie telecom operators having a large share in the fixed phone line market and they are using this to block calls or increase pricing to the roaming free cards. This explaines the sometimes big differencen rates to some of these numbers.

@snaimon as for the rates, yes i still get good rates to UM from the Netherlands, but I know that this will not last long as some companies are lazy. For example the company I am using has not even sent me a bill for the last 5 month's.

I do get good rates to call my +44-7624 number. Using voip > betamax voicetrading the call to this mobile only cost me 10 eurcents per minute (without vat) I am using my own callback system so the callback only cost me 10 eurcents. This system and rates can be used by anyone (voicetrading only for companies inside the eu or for anyone living outside the EU)

I am using my UM card less and less because some of my customers complaid about not being able to call the number. So I do not belive the UM is increasing there rates as it is in their interest to get more customers and problems like increasing rates, blocks will not give them more customers.

United Mobile is a virtual operator on FL1, which is part of Telekom Austria, and a partner of Vodafone. CallKey depends on Manx Telecom, part of O2/Telefonica. 09 Mobile is rumoured to use Swisscom roaming agreements. Sunsim is an mvno on e-plus, owned by KPN. I don't know which network Travelsim lives on, but if it is EMT, this is owned by TeliaSonera

Whilst some practices have been less than competitive, I don't think the mechanisms are as you describe. The former monopolies are not in a cartel to drive out the free roaming cards, or shove tariffs upwards to reach them.

Perhaps T-mobile should take the view that if it can't beat them, join them. It's overdue that they and Orange make some moves on cheaper roaming.

And, off-topic, I don't understand why you have made your callback system so complicated. No hardware is needed at all, and lower tariffs exist on a couple of other Betamax brands.

Who
 

Andy,

Confessing my own stupidity.....

Who is "you" and "your callback system"? UM? T-Mo? bbob? Someone or something else?

What other "Batamax" brands?