It's official: Cell phone carriers are the dumbest companies in the world
What? You didn't know that already? I thought I was telling you something you already knew.
In case you missed it, Ad Scheepbouwer, the CEO of a Dutch telecom known as KPN told the Financial Times yesterday that "[He] had [an iPhone] and thought it was a pretty useless phone, to be quite honest. The battery ran out in no time. I didn't like the touch screen."
Of course, the company's CEO still didn't want to leave Steve Jobs and company out in the cold just in case it decides to start selling the iPhone to the Netherlands. Scheepbouwer said that his company would "be more than happy to sell it." After all, he pointed out, his company has "half the market in the Netherlands and hopes it will will be the party of choice."
Even better, this clown has allegedly been wining and dining Steve Jobs at every chance he gets in an attempt to win the deal. Am I missing something? Didn't he say that the product is 'useless'? And didn't he say that the battery runs 'out in no time'? If he believes that, why would Apple want to strike a deal with his company and why would his company want to sell such a junker?
If nothing else, this just goes to show us all how crazy these carriers really are.
Of course, the issue with carriers doesn't just stop at any one country's border. Instead, these fools are all over the world, propagating a mentality that no matter what happens, the customers should be treated poorly, promised more than they actually receive and be victims to crazy pricing schemes that aim at siphon as much money as possible out of our pockets.
Let's be honest -- is there any cell phone carrier in the world that actually does what's best for their customers? Absolutely not. In fact, I think most people pick carriers in the US out of pure necessity instead of anything else. How many times have you asked someone how their carrier is and you've been told, "well, they are all awful, but it's the lesser of evils"? Probably more times than you can count.
So what's really going on behind the scenes? Well, in the US especially, we have a situation where the carriers wield significant influence because they have a hand in a slew of candy jars. Verizon, for example, currently offers landline service, cell phone service, DSL and FiOS. With multiple revenue streams to tap into and not one government regulator caring, the company is basically allowed to roam free as we pay the price.
One other major issue that has yet to be addressed is the state of the cell phone industry. Right now, we are only capable of using a handful of carriers and although they compete with each other, it's as if they've signed a secret pact that artificially inflates prices in the market, while offering roughly the same spotty coverage all over the country.
And to make matters worse, we've all become so used to this treatment that nothing ever changes. How many times have you said, "well, gee, $49.99 per month for data isn't that bad, I guess." What? If you ask me, that's a ridiculous fee to pay. Beyond that, why am I forced to pay a whopping $110 for 1,350 minutes per month? Don't you think that's a little ridiculous too, considering I can't even use my phone wherever I want?
But luckily for us, this won't last forever. As more people become fed up with the price gouging currently experienced in the cell phone industry and the old guard running the ship either retires or falls into obscurity, I honestly believe things will change.
Ironically, though, the reason the cell phone industry will be so different years from now has nothing to do with the customers and everything to do with the idiots who run these organizations under the false sense of hope that it'll last forever. Trust me, it won't.
After one carrier makes the poor move of increasing prices to an even more ridiculous level, people will finally revolt. And when that happens, it'll be companies like Google that will rescue us from these fools. And then, the vicious circle starts right up again with a new business running the ship.
But until that day, we'll continue to be forced into crappy contracts and $175 cancellation fees until the general public picks its head up out of the sand and sees the carriers for what they really are -- a bunch of downright disgusting companies that will do whatever they can to take you for all you're worth.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
"If you ask me, that's a ridiculous fee to pay."
Here's a clue: nobody asked you. Here's an idea: if you find the fee so insulting, how about you host your own wireless data network, and charge what you consider a more reasonable fee. Here's the reality: you haven't the slightest idea what the hell you are talking about.
- I pay for my cell phone bill because I need one for work. I hate all of the cell phone companies I've ever worked with - all of them. If there were ANY option that would allow me to break free, (I don't care how much it cost) I would go for it. Maybe Skype + OpenMoko + Citywide WiFi = Cell Phone Freedom?
"it's as if they've signed a secret pact that artificially inflates prices in the market"
- For example, when one carrier raises text message rates, all others follow through. This is reverse capitalism! :-( Why isn't the market correcting itself?
Also, if you don't like the contracts why not look into prepaid plans?
- by aztec92154 February 8, 2008 10:29 AM PST
- @riffkind
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(7 Comments)I'd like to kindly submit some evidence:
I am increasingly fed up. And I hate having to pay for more services that I don't use!
- I receive at least 15 text messages a month to which I reply to. At 20 cents a message, I might as well get the 400 message $4.99 text plan instead of paying $6 for 30 messages. The fact of the matter is, I dont need 400 text messages, but I still have to pay for them. If I don't use them by the end of the month, I loose them. This is a cheap and completely unfair way for the cell phone companies to get an extra $60 a year for something that should be free!!!
Can you imagine if you went to the gas pump, filled up your tank with gas, but didn't finish it within a couple of weeks-so you lose it. Thats right - the gas stations would send a guy out to your car, siphon out your gas and then re-sell it to you every month. This is crazy, right? thats what the cell phone companies are doing.
Also, pre-paid plans work just like the text plans. They MORE expensive over time than contracts. The price per minute, just like text messages is ridiculous. At the end of the day, it is apparently more "cost effective" to get suckered into a 2-year contract. It just doesn't feel right.