BL> That is why I have offered a warning... I'm very attentive to your
BL>  information. The consumer is being tricked with 2 or 3 year plans for
BL>  $x dollars per month before using the "Free" phone.
My paragraph below already refuted your assertion before you even made
it.
BL>  GE> Customers who already own a cell phone, and who sign up for new 
ervi
BL>  GE> pay the exact same rates, under the exact same terms, as someone who
BL>  GE> gets a "free" phone. Therefore, the rates have nothing to do with
BL>  GE> getting a free phone.
BL>  The guy who does that gets ripped off even more! You pay per month for
BL>  something you may never use and don't get a phone at the end.
No one gets a phone at the end of their contract, they get it at the
beginning. A consumer who gets a phone for no cash payment (ie. a
"free" phone) in exchange for signing a contract takes full legal and
equitable title to that phone on day one. It is his property the minute
he walsk out of the store, which means it's up to him to get it repaired
if it breaks or to replace it if stolen.
BL>  Rates have everything to do with it. True rates would be credit for
BL>  air time the way Clearnet does. A $35.00 plan gives you $35.00 worth of
BL>  calling and you don't pay on top of that unless you use more air time. 
o
BL>  that's the only fair way. And you pay at the end of the month after you
BL>  have used the service.
Cellular phone billing is no different than landline billing. You have
to pay $X for basic service (ie. dialtone). You pay that even if you
make no phone calls. Then there are tarriffs for toll and long distance
calls, and often a choice of pay-as-you-go or a flat rate for local
calling.
And that type of billing is fair. It costs a certain amount to build and
maintain a service network -- whether it's landlines or cell towers.
BL>  GE> I activate both new and old phones every day. I
BL>  GE> assure you there is no difference in the contracts, regardless of
BL>  GE> whether the customer gets a phone or not.
BL>  Yes there is. The guy with a phone gets ripped off for monthly charges
BL>  and does not get a phone at the end of the term. !
He does NOT get "ripped off". He voluntarily enters into a business
agreement with a service provider, and pays the agreed upon rates for
service. If he doesn't like the rates, he can go to the alternate
provider, or he can do without. No one is forced to subscribe to
cellular phone service.
BL>  GE> Therefore, from the consumer's perspective, the phone IS free.
BL> Therefore CONSUMER BEWARE you are paying for your "FREE" phone each month
BL> when you write a cheque to the provider. Then they charge more to use the
BL> phone!
BL>  GE> If you are given a birthday gift, the gift-giver paid for it, so to 

BL>  GE> it is not free. But to you, since you aren't the one who paid for 
t,
BL>  GE> IS free.
BL> If I had to pay a monthly fee to have my birthday gift>> I end up paying 

BL> the gift.
You pay the monthly fee for service -- not for the phone hardware. You
pay the same fee whether you get the hardware or not. The cellular
companies simply make higher profit margins off of subscribers who
already own their phones than they make from those who get new phones.
Bear in mind that one of the things that makes a any phone valuable is
the fact that there are other people with phones that you can call with
your phone. The more people there are with phones out there for you to
call with your phone, the more valuable your phone is as a means of
communication. One could argue that, in a sense, ALL cell phone
subscribers subsidise new phones for new users. But no one who gets a
free phone in exchange for signing a cellular service agreement is in
any way cheated out of anything, nor are they treated unfairly.
BL> Why don't you get it?
Because I am not a socialist or a communist. I am a capitalist, and I
understand the way that capitalism works. Companies that provide
services EARN profits. That's what keeps the companies in business.
Here in the States, most of us understand that. That's why we aren't
slipping closer and closer to socialism every year.
 * OLX 2.1 TD * The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets.
--- Renegade
---------------