Worst of the Week: Rage against the machine

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
I was hoping to avoid writing one more column about the recent Mobile World Congress event, but I feel that there is still a topic from that show worth exploring/exploiting for my own amusement. (Also, since the event is thankfully held only once per year I might as well get as much copy out of it as possible.) And that topic is the surprise/rage that has been expressed this week by some that traveled to far-off Barcelona, Spain, and came back with cellphone bills wildly inflated with outrageous roaming charges.
Now, I would agree that the current pricing model/scam being orchestrated by U.S.-based carriers for customers that want to use their phone and keep their current phone number when traveling outside the U.S. border should be considered a felony. But I also will admit that for at least those traveling to the MWC event the shock/awe/rage is hilarious.
I am sure that for many this was not the first time they took their cellphones outside of the U.S., and it’s not like we are not made aware of the fact that domestic carriers are going to charge us up to $2 per minute to place or receive a call once we leave the country. Yet we somehow come away from the event outraged that they actually do.
And I will admit that after checking out what I was charged for voice services while overseas I needed a moment to regain my composure. But, I was told before I left how much it was going to cost and it was up to me whether I needed to make a phone call or answer an incoming call rather than using e-mail. (Of course, that may be easy to say as I was not a highly sought-after person at the event and for awhile I was convinced the lack of people trying to call me was because my phone was broken.)
I liken the outrage to the same reaction the general public has to early termination fees, where they are told that upon signing up for a contract and receiving a blinged-out device for next to nothing that if they choose to break that contract they will be forced to give back the subsidy they chose to take on that device. While the charges are outrageous, it’s not like the carriers are hiding what they are doing.
Unlike the ETF issue though, I do find it hard to come down on the side of the carriers when it comes to international roaming charges. I know they have to pass along some costs related to rates they are being charged by international operators, but I can’t imagine that they don’t have the gravitas to not be able to negotiate lower, reciprocal rates or at least cut down on the profit margin of their current offerings.
Regardless, as somewhat knowledgeable adults making somewhat grown-up decisions, it’s up to us to take some responsibility for agreeing to pay admittedly whacked-out international rates.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
–Leap Wireless announced a deal this week with Pocket Communications to basically buy take over Pocket’s operations covering south Texas. Not much of a surprise there as both carriers offer basically the same sort of no-contract, unlimited calling service, and for them to compete against each other in the hotly-contested south Texas region. But, the one thing that did catch me off guard was that Pocket Communications owns the Web site pocket.com. How is that possible? How can a small wireless carrier own the domain name pocket.com? Shouldn’t some huge, multinational garment maker, billiards company or at least a porn site own that name? It’s like finding out that some guy living in his mom’s basement owns the Web site domain internet.com.
–There is nothing I like more than placing a value on used items, which explains my unending fascination with eBay and the Antique Road Show. Thus, Sprint Nextel’s announcement this week that it would begin taking used devices in on trade for customers signing up for a new account and unveiling a related listing of what those devices would be worth was super sweet.
(Before I dive into my attempt to dig some humor out of this, I will admit that one of Sprint Nextel’s “goals” of this program is to help in the recycling of unused mobile devices, which is hard to make fun of.)
The list provides all sorts of cool data on what devices are worth. Like that an iPhone 3GS 32GB model is worth $249.60 – the most valued device on the list, or that a Motorola Droid is worth only $147.20. Better yet are the 60 cents and 20 cents tacked onto the end of those valuations.
Also of note is that Sprint Nextel will sell you a brand new Overdrive 3G/WiMAX mobile hot spot for a full retail price of $350 or a subsidized price of $100, but if you turn around and sell it back they will only give you $14 for it.
Some other notable trade-in values on the list include Nokia’s N-Gage being worth only $10.09 and Sierra Wireless’ Voq for only $5.60. But, those are deemed diamond-encrusted luxury items compared with the lowest valuation of $4 on the list reserved for the unloved Motorola v177; Nokia 2760 and 3120; Samsung’s GSM/CDMA-enabled SCH-A795, SGH-X506 and X507; and Sony Ericsson’s J100i. Cold, just cold.
–State Farm Insurance joined the hordes of companies in launching an iPhone application with its Steer Clear Mobile app. The free application is targeted at younger drivers and includes the ability to log driving experiences, receive tips on driving in a variety of weather conditions, watch videos of other drivers’ experiences and the ability to take part in a “safe-driving pledge.” Yep, all things that young people like to do. And better yet, since it’s on their phone, they can do all of these cool activities while they are driving. Good work State Farm. How about next time you think about making an application promoting safe driving you make it so it renders the phone non-functional while the user is driving. Just a thought.
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