-=> On 05-08-06  09:10,  Ward Dossche <=-
 -=> spoke to Dale Shipp about Re: none <=-

 > I've heard that -- but the thing that wondered me is how I would know
 > that a number I am calling is a cell phone.   It seems fair to charge
 > caller -- but only if it was an informed choice.

 WD> No, it is not fair.

  What is not fair in your mind?  Do you have a reason why you think
  that only the callee should pay?   IMO, it is arbitary.   Important
  thing is that the person who gets charged knows that they will get
  charged ahead of time.  If that informed consent is not available,
  then the system is not fair.

 WD> I have no clue where the party is which I'm calling, which is the
 WD> whole idea  of going-cellular. In Europe, with it's multi-country 
 WD> environment, when I reach someone else who happens to have 
 WD> roamed to another country I am not supposed to be aware of 
 WD> the where-abouts of the party which I'm calling.

   I have often called people who I thought were in Maryland only to
   find out that they were in some other state 1000 miles away.

 WD> If the party I called is roaming "internationally" and 
 WD> leaves the phone switched-on then it is this party's choice 
 WD> to remain reachable even if he/she sits on Red Square 
 WD> admiring Lenin's Mausoleum instead of having a beer in 
 WD> front of Manneken Pis in Brussels.
 WD> 
 WD> So when I dial that person's cellular number within this 
 WD> country then I pay the national rate for calling a cell-
 WD> phone, it's the callee who will be charged for the Brussels-
 WD> Moscow stretch.

 WD> I think it makes perfect sense.

   So do I, and that is what I meant by "it is fair".   You and they
   both know the consequences of your acts and are charged accordingly.


 WD> You, and many overthere, "again" look at this from a "one 
 WD> country" environment ... give some thought on the aspect 
 WD> "international" of the cell-phone business.

  I don't look at it from a "one country" point of view.  In fact, I
  rarely consider it since my cell phone sits in my car turned off at
  all times --- waiting for emergency use.
 
 > MVDV> Cell phones have distinctive numbers, so they are easily
 > MVDV> recognised. here (netherlands) they all start with 06.
 
 > I saw David Drummond say the same thing.   Does the rest of the number
 > look like a land line number?

 WD>

   BTW, I wonder why it is when my BlueWave OLR quotes your messages it
   puts a WD> on blank lines.   It does not do that for others.   Do
   your lines have something different about them which causes BW not
   to recogize them as blank?

 WD> In Belgium we have a 4 digit areacode for cell-phones ...
 WD> "04xx" then 6 more digits, so you always need to dial 10 
 WD> digits. For a landline there are always 9 digits.

 WD>
 WD> There are also landlines starting with 04 but they'll have 
 WD> 9 digits in total as well.

  So for you, cell phones have distinctive numbers.  However, it seems
  that the Dutch and OZ have a different distinctive number.   Are you
  expected to learn all of them?   What happens when you call a cell
  phone in Holland?

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 23:17:19, 08 May 2006
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30

--- Maximus/NT 3.01