I do a lot of traveling and have a mobile telephone number from the local carrier in most countries I visit. I do this by purchasing a SIM card with pre-paid minutes from a local provider, which in many places might be Vodaphone, and installing the SIM card into an unlocked quad-band phone. (Not long ago I learned that SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module.)
Right now I am in the U.S.A. (in the US mobile phones are called cell phones) and I have a SIM card which I bought from AT&T in New York City. Other service provider choices were T-Mobil and Verizon. I went with AT&T because I think their coverage is good.
AT&T’s plan charges $1 per day plus 10 cents per minute. An alternative plan was 25 cents per minute. Today I received a cell phone call. Wrong number. After the call, AT&T, sent me a message that the call cost $1.10.
Incoming Calls Should be Free
This is the problem with cell phones in America: they charge for incoming telephone calls.
Every other country I have been in does not charge for incoming phone calls. Why should I have to pay when someone wants to talk to me. For instance, if a telemarketer calls why should I have pay $1.10 to tell him to No thanks. Even worse, what if it is a computer calling your cell phone. The party making the call should be obliged to pay for the call.
From now on I will not answer any calls in the U.S. unless the number already shows up in phone directory.
