|
TOTA Mobile/Wireless/Celluar/VOIP Thread (pg. 50)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| monishb |
| chances are they are not going to win. |
|
|
| tvmann |
Some people when renewing their Fido contracts have been able to get the "system access fee" dropped.
I was checking out the similar "enviro fee" charge that they add onto your bill at the oil change places like Great Canadian Oil Change. It's not a provincial tax or fee (here in BC anyway), they kind of mislead people into thinking it's some kind of tax that goes to the government (such as for tires where the gov reaaly does have a fee), but it's just another corporate money grab.
Same thing with the cell companies, I have been told by sales reps that it was a government fee but they were wrong. It's pure profit. |
|
|
| monishb |
| quote: | Originally posted by tvmann
Some people when renewing their Fido contracts have been able to get the "system access fee" dropped.
I was checking out the similar "enviro fee" charge that they add onto your bill at the oil change places like Great Canadian Oil Change. It's not a provincial tax or fee (here in BC anyway), they kind of mislead people into thinking it's some kind of tax that goes to the government (such as for tires where the gov reaaly does have a fee), but it's just another corporate money grab.
Same thing with the cell companies, I have been told by sales reps that it was a government fee but they were wrong. It's pure profit. |
http://www.telusmobility.com/about/...fairs/saf.shtml
System Access Fee
The System Access Fee covers a number of costs, including: spectrum acquisition and licensing charges, contribution charges to help subsidize residential telephone service in rural and remote areas, costs associated with area code changes, invoicing requirements for special needs clients, relay services (TDD) and related costs. The remainder, if any, goes towards the costs of operating TELUS Mobility’s national wireless networks, including new equipment and installations, ongoing maintenance and technology upgrades. |
|
|
| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by monishb
http://www.telusmobility.com/about/...fairs/saf.shtml
System Access Fee
The System Access Fee covers a number of costs, including: spectrum acquisition and licensing charges, contribution charges to help subsidize residential telephone service in rural and remote areas, costs associated with area code changes, invoicing requirements for special needs clients, relay services (TDD) and related costs. The remainder, if any, goes towards the costs of operating TELUS Mobility’s national wireless networks, including new equipment and installations, ongoing maintenance and technology upgrades. |
sounds like the cost of doing business to me. why not just drop the fee and jack up all the plans by $6.95 rather than coming off as trying to mislead consumers?
|
|
|
| malek |
| quote: | Originally posted by dEsidEL
sounds like the cost of doing business to me. why not just drop the fee and jack up all the plans by $6.95 rather than coming off as trying to mislead consumers?
|
This issue is very similar to companies advertizing 69$ Montreal-Toronto plane tickets when we all know, that its a limited number of tickets at that price, not including the 3949084 fees and one way... which bring the total to up to four times the advertized price.:rolleyes: |
|
|
| loca |
| I just got the new SE w580i from Rogers and was so annoyed with all the crap they stuffed it with that i decided to debrand it myself. Successfully. So up yours Rogers! :D |
|
|
| VERTiG0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by dEsidEL
sounds like the cost of doing business to me. why not just drop the fee and jack up all the plans by $6.95 rather than coming off as trying to mislead consumers?
|
I'd happily pay $6.95/mo for some stupid access fee if each company did a nationwide rollout of 3G/3.5G and priced it reasonably.
Fat chance that'll happen, though. |
|
|
| monishb |
WebMD) Long-time mobile phone users who talk more than an hour a day on the devices may be may be more likely to have high-frequency hearing loss, researchers say.
"Our intention is not to scare the public," says Naresh K. Panda, MS, DNB, chairman of the department of ear, nose, and throat at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, and researcher for the study. B The study, he tells WebMD, is preliminary and small. "We need to study a larger number of patients."
He presented the findings Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery in Washington.
His team found that people who had talked on cell phones for more than four years and those who talked more than an hour daily were more likely to have these high-frequency losses. These losses can make it difficult to hear consonants such as s, f, t and z, making it hard to understand words.
But another hearing expert familiar with the study says there is as yet no cause for alarm.
Hearing Loss Study
Panda and his colleagues evaluated 100 people, aged 18 to 45, who had used mobile phones for at least a year, dividing them into three groups according to length of use. One group of 35 had used phones for one to two years; another group of 35 had used them for two to four years, and a group of 30 had used them for more than four years.
"We asked them if they had been using the phones less than 60 minutes or more than 60 minutes per day," Panda tells WebMD. They compared the phone users with 50 people who had never used cell phones and served as a control group. The study was conducted in India.
Those who used the mobile phones for more than four years had more hearing loss in high-frequency ranges in their right ear, the ear most held the phone to, than those who used the mobile phone for one to two years.
"When we compared high-frequency thresholds (the level at which the sound is first detected) between the one- to two-year [users] and more than four years; there was a significant difference in the thresholds between these two groups," he says.
One- to two-year users had a 16.48 decibel loss in the high-frequency range, he says, while those who used the phones more than four years had a 24.54 decibel loss.
That decrease in hearing over a relatively brief period may not be noticeable to mobile phone users but would be of concern to a hearing expert, says Andy Vermiglio, AuD, a research audiologist at House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.
Mobile phone users who had symptoms such as a warm sensation, fullness in the ears, or ringing were more likely to have the high-frequency hearing loss, Panda also says.
Long-term mobile phone use may result in inner ear damage, Panda speculates. And symptoms such as ear warmth or fullness could be early warning signs of that damage.
Second Opinion
The research is too preliminary to warrant alarm, says Chester Griffiths, MD, chairman of the surgery department atB Santa Monica -- UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital and assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. He was not involved in the study but reviewed the findings for WebMD.
"Based on this study, I would not advise any change at the point, but I would caution people if they have any symptoms to stop using a cell phone or to reduce use."
Cell Phone Industry Responds
Joe Farren, a spokesman for CTIA -- the Wireless Association, the industry organization for the cellular industry, tells WebMD he has not reviewed the new study closely so he can't comment directly on the findings.
But he tells WebMD that previous research has not found a link between cell phone use and harmful health effects.
"There have been numerous studies conducted around te globe that have been peer-reviewed and published in leading scientific journals that show no association between wireless usage and adverse health effects," Farren says.
The subjects in the Indian study used GSM mobile phones. Farren says U.S. mobile phone users have phones that use the GSM platform but also other platforms.
Panda plans to continue his research. Meanwhile, his advice to preserve hearing: "Use cell phones when absolutely necessary."
Source:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007...in3277734.shtml |
|
|
| exraver |
Not sure if it was posted before, but anyway: for existing Rogers wireless customers, you can call retention department and get a lot better deal on your cell plan than you have right now.
Sample: 250 daytime minutes
Unlimited wknights/wkends from 6pm-8am
125 Outgoing text msgs
Voicemail
CID
Call waiting/forwarding/3way calling
Rogers to Rogers
Free Motorola KRZR phone
$31.01 all fees/taxes included.
Source: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/...ad.php?t=111887
Almost 12000 posts, more than million views. Good luck :)
PS, make sure to read few pages before calling Rogers. |
|
|
| Jem_hadar |
| quote: | Originally posted by exraver
Not sure if it was posted before, but anyway: for existing Rogers wireless customers, you can call retention department and get a lot better deal on your cell plan than you have right now.
Sample: 250 daytime minutes
Unlimited wknights/wkends from 6pm-8am
125 Outgoing text msgs
Voicemail
CID
Call waiting/forwarding/3way calling
Rogers to Rogers
Free Motorola KRZR phone
$31.01 all fees/taxes included.
Source: http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/...ad.php?t=111887
Almost 12000 posts, more than million views. Good luck :)
PS, make sure to read few pages before calling Rogers. |
AND they'll give you a FREE "ZRZR" phone! WOW... that makes it not belive it though, like to good to be true... thats one of their best phones... always expensive... even in contracts w/ 3 years u cant seem to get it often for $0. |
|
|
| exraver |
I'm gonna do it in next few days, will post results.
PS, some ppl even got better deals, follow link. |
|
|
| malek |
Another example of how we get ripped off here in Canada:
iPhone delayed in France due to unlocking laws?
Posted Oct 6th 2007 10:46AM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Cellphones
We're not exactly up on our French, let alone our French telecommunications law, but we're hearing that Apple's supposed launch of the iPhone in that country is being held up by two different regulations that prevent the iPhone from being the locked down revenue-generating machine Apple wants it to be. The first, a law passed in 1998, requires that carriers unlock any phone upon customer request -- for a fee during the first six months of a contract and for free after that. Notably, all three major French carriers -- including Orange, which was supposed to get the iPhone -- have lost lawsuits challenging this law. The second, which we're slightly less clear on, apparently requires carriers to sell both locked and unlocked phones. Tensions over the regulations have apparently strained the relationship between the companies to the point where Orange spokespeople are saying things like "the risk we're evaluating this week is that Apple crosses France off," but really, who expected Apples and Oranges to mix without someone getting a little bruised? |
|
|
|
|
