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MATHA531 · 24-03-2006, 11:37

Some good points Przemolog..

But, to me at least, call forwarding (which we call it in America) goes a step further...I call forward from my landline to my mobile phone while at home too..to me it's not just for international travel or even domestic travel...when I am out and about during the day, instead of people going into voice mail on my landline if they call me, they go right to my mobile phone whether I am in the car or at work (with the vibrator on of course) or whatever...when travelling I never give out my mobile number (nor the riiing number nor my UK number etc.)...I call forward from my landline to wherever.

That being said, it is no more difficult, at least for me, to call forward to United Mobile than it would be to call forward to Vodafone...it is totally transparent to the caller. What is difficult, of course, is getting the right price to call forward to united mobile on your carrier and the quality of the connection to FL...

It would be nice, I suppose, to be able to call forward to a better quality provider so to speak...to some degree Vodafone Passport does provide that at a price but in my case, right now today, it is far cheaper for me to call forward to umited mobile (11?/minute) than to a UK mobile (30?/minute) but at this point judging by what others are saying about FL rates, I suppose I am very lucky.

Call forwarding is part of the game, so to speak, with travel not the eternal search for the cheapest rate...

But here's what troubles me about the whole thing....T Mobile USA allows international roaming at the rate of 99?/minute to both make and receive calls in Western Europe (except for FL which is something like $1.49/minute)...and of course their preferred roaming partners are T mobile affiliated companies such as T Mobile UK, T Mobile DE etc. So when you question why so high, you are told basically this is what the other carrier charges us to a large degree with a small mark up...now the small mark up is fine....after all they are in it to make a profit. But to charge me to cover what T Mobile UK charges T Mobile USA to use their network is well almost criminal because all that is happening is theyh are taking money out of their left pocket and putting it in their right pocket.

Same thing is true with the excuse that Vodafone UK has high roaming rates because it has to cover what Vodafone DE charges them to use their network and all they are doing is passing along the costs along with their small mark up....give me a break.

And now both O2 IE and Vodafone IE have dropped roaming rates in the UK...what a revolutionary development.

No the high price of international roaming is for one thing and one thing only, to fatten their bottom lines on the backs of their consumers. It is not to cover costs.

	(#5)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	24-03-2006, 11:37 Some good points Przemolog.. But, to me at least, call forwarding (which we call it in America) goes a step further...I call forward from my landline to my mobile phone while at home too..to me it's not just for international travel or even domestic travel...when I am out and about during the day, instead of people going into voice mail on my landline if they call me, they go right to my mobile phone whether I am in the car or at work (with the vibrator on of course) or whatever...when travelling I never give out my mobile number (nor the riiing number nor my UK number etc.)...I call forward from my landline to wherever. That being said, it is no more difficult, at least for me, to call forward to United Mobile than it would be to call forward to Vodafone...it is totally transparent to the caller. What is difficult, of course, is getting the right price to call forward to united mobile on your carrier and the quality of the connection to FL... It would be nice, I suppose, to be able to call forward to a better quality provider so to speak...to some degree Vodafone Passport does provide that at a price but in my case, right now today, it is far cheaper for me to call forward to umited mobile (11?/minute) than to a UK mobile (30?/minute) but at this point judging by what others are saying about FL rates, I suppose I am very lucky. Call forwarding is part of the game, so to speak, with travel not the eternal search for the cheapest rate... But here's what troubles me about the whole thing....T Mobile USA allows international roaming at the rate of 99?/minute to both make and receive calls in Western Europe (except for FL which is something like $1.49/minute)...and of course their preferred roaming partners are T mobile affiliated companies such as T Mobile UK, T Mobile DE etc. So when you question why so high, you are told basically this is what the other carrier charges us to a large degree with a small mark up...now the small mark up is fine....after all they are in it to make a profit. But to charge me to cover what T Mobile UK charges T Mobile USA to use their network is well almost criminal because all that is happening is theyh are taking money out of their left pocket and putting it in their right pocket. Same thing is true with the excuse that Vodafone UK has high roaming rates because it has to cover what Vodafone DE charges them to use their network and all they are doing is passing along the costs along with their small mark up....give me a break. And now both O2 IE and Vodafone IE have dropped roaming rates in the UK...what a revolutionary development. No the high price of international roaming is for one thing and one thing only, to fatten their bottom lines on the backs of their consumers. It is not to cover costs.