The Great Mobile Phone Roaming Charges Rip-Off

Yes, at last, they have actually admitted it: we have been paying 4 to 5 times cost price for roaming charges. You know when you come back from holiday abroad and and you get your mobile phone bill that could choke a crocodile? After all these years, we still have to wait another year before the prices are brought down to a normal level. I have been in the telecomms industry on and off for 10 years. Myself and colleagues have submitted patents designed at saving costs for the consumer. What do they do? Give you a pat on the back, a slap up meal, then sit on the patent. Several years ago myself and a friend developed a patent called 'circle of friends'. This was targetted at large groups/families going on holiday or a sports event abroad. You always want to rendezvous somewhere and the mobile phone is the best way to do it. I won't go into the underlying details, but our idea was for the whole group, once they had reached their destination abroad, to dial a certain number and register for say 10 euro, into 'circle of friends'. Then later when they called each other, their numbers would be recognised by the network as belonging to that particular group of 'circle of friends, and they would only be charged normal local rates - thus saving a fortune. Normally your call would have to be directed all the way back to your country of origin for authentication and verification. This is why the charges build up. They all said it was agood idea but they wouldn't persue it because that would mean them losing revenue. The billions of profit they make each year and the millions they pay in bonuses to their managers, is obviously not enough. How will they cope when the new fairer charges are brought in? God help them.

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