On Thursday, October 11, 2001, at 01:46 , Gerhard Fasol wrote:
> Benjamin Kowarsch wrote:
>>
>> So, it's probably going to be a lot easier and especially a lot cheaper
>> to pick up a GSM/PHS dual handset (NEC have it but haven't started
>> manufacturing yet)
>
> Benjamin, maybe I am missing something here.
> DoCoMo has a GSM/PHS handset and GSM/PHS
> roaming in it's offerings for quite some time
> already, and the handset is an NEC handset.
That is quite interesting, given that PHS does not have a roaming
protocol nor any mode/means to interoperate with GSM/MAP. Possible, NTT
have hacked something, but perhaps this follows the
rent-a-handset-and-roam model by which manual/static call diversion is
used to deliver calls to your overseas arrangement.
> Prices for roaming are high - but as far as
> I know they are very high in Europe as well.
With the standard GSM/MAP roaming where home networks do the charging,
yes, indeed, tariffs are outrageous.
> Isn't there an EU-commission enquiry into
> this now?
Yes, there is. The trouble is that while the EU commission is right to
say that tariffs are too high, the operators can claim that they need to
charge a premium because they are carrying the risk for their user's
overseas usage without any visibility what that usage is (can take up to
two months before they know). Imagine how much the credit card surcharge
would be if your credit card company had no way of monitoring how much
you spend while you are using the card overseas.
So, while this enquiry is in principle a good thing, there is a reason
why this form of roaming is so expensive.
However, the roaming protocol which I was referring to (ZEBRA), which
has a wireless/cordless roaming mode (i.e. GSM/PHS and/or GSM/DECT) uses
a different charging system, whereby only the visited network charges
and no premium is levied by the home network for overseas usage. That
makes it suitable for cheap roaming for the rest of us who don't have
corporate expense accounts. As a result, this protocol has made it into
the EU's antitrust case file.
Anyway, thanks for the info on the NTT thing, I will check this out. Do
you know what they call this service or better still do you have a URL ?
rgds
benjamin
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Received on Thu Oct 11 08:26:50 2001