March 2010 - EU bill shock deadline for cellular networks in Europe
 

March 2010 is the deadline for European cellular networks to implement a EU bill shock measure.

Quote:

"The new rules will also protect consumers from "bill shocks" by introducing
a cut-off mechanism once the bill reaches €50, unless they choose another cut-off limit.
Operators have until March 2010 to put this cut-off limit in place."

-

Read about it in 3G bill shock holiday season

The rule is now in effect - with new details:

Quote:

"Customers can now require their phone firm to cut them off when their bill reaches a certain level after accessing the internet in other European nations. If users do not put in place a limit by 1 July, it will automatically be set at 50 euros ($65; £45). The phone firms will have to warn users when their bill hits 80% of the limit."

EU to limit mobile internet bills

Some providers seem to have taken a rather cynical approach to this, setting a cutoff default level at zero.

Someone trying to use Virgin UK's data abroad the other day could get no access at all, and then was sent a couple of text messages suggesting a subscription to a data bundle at £4 an hour and £6 a day.

An email to customer services expressing disappointment about this was treated to a reply that purported to say this had been forced upon the company by the European regulators.

No, the regulator mandated capping bill shock procedures, but it didn't set the actual tariff, or ask it to be implemented so that it became impossible to get good pro rata value for modest use of under a megabyte a day

I've read that T-mobile UK has also introduced a daily charge, albeit cheaper at £1 a day, for up to 3 MB. It's not yey on their website though

Allegedly - I haven't yet checked to see if it's true - a stroke of non-genius is that to apply for this, one has to use a website. Which means people only using it to receive emails will be stumped

Don’t Tell the Kids
 

Some may feel squeamish about eating it, but rabbit has a fan base that grows as cooks discover how easy they are to raise — and how good the meat tastes.

As tempting as it might be to be entertained for a short while, I'm not going to wait for the addition of spam as your signature. Goodbye