Click below to
find interesting
information from our
September 2009
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Roaming
- the
government
can't
help
The Federal
government
launched a
parliamentary
enquiry into the
high cost of
global roaming
(using a SIM
from an
Australian
network whilst
travelling
overseas) in
June 2008, which
completed their
report in March,
and the
government has
just
announced
the outcome and
actions to be
taken. The
report
recommended five
actions.
The first was
that the
government
"regulate
roaming by
multi-lateral
negotiations...",
the government
reply was that
they "agreed in
principle
but...". We
don't expect
this to have
much impact in
the near term.
Secondly,
there should be
extra roaming
reporting to the
ACCC from the
networks. Fine,
but we think
that in itself
won't affect the
prices (anyway
most of the cost
comes from
overseas
networks).
Then the
government would
meet with user
groups to help
improve consumer
information, and
provide
information on
alternatives to
roaming when
communicating to
the public.
Unfortunately,
the
"alternatives"
suggested are
somewhat
uninspiring
(including using
hotel phones and
basically
avoiding
roaming).
The remaining
recommendation
was to allow
temporary number
mobility between
carriers for
overseas trips.
This was shot
down as the
networks claimed
technical
difficulties
(and anyway we
think wouldn't
have made a
significant
difference - all
networks charge
very high
roaming prices).
So the
parliamentary
inquiry finished
with little
impact expected
on roaming
prices. To
underline this,
during the
inquiry process
Optus
significantly
raised its
roaming prices,
as did Telstra
(twice).
There's only
one service
that allows you
to use your
mobile phone
normally whilst
overseas and
avoid roaming
costs! Join
Australia's
smartest
travellers!
Travel
Chinese
aeroplanes
For as
long as most
of us can
recall,
there are
only two
brands of
jets flying
around.
Boeing was
the
incumbent,
famous for
both their
work-horse
small B737
jets and the
long-haul
B747 Jumbo
jets. Airbus
was the
upstart,
putting
together
wings from
Britain,
fuselage
from
Germany,
tails from
Spain to
make their
similar
models like
the A320 and
the
long-range
A440 series.
Most of us
have known
nothing else.
But now, while
Airbus and
Boeing are
frantically
developing the
new generation
of large jets
(notably the
A380 super-jumb
and the
mostly-plastic
B787 Dreamliner),
in a decade or
so we may see
some different
brands flying on
smaller jet
models.
First off are
the
"regional-jet"
makers,
Bombardier of
Canada and
Embraer of
Brazil, both of
whom are
planning larger
versions of
their successful
smaller models.
But the real
dark horse is
the plan by
Chinese
manufacturers to
develop more
fuel-efficient
jets. Already
some A320s are
assembled in
China, and the
Commercial
Aircraft Corp of
China has just
announced plans
to build a
737-size jet
called the C919.
It is a fair bet
that Boeing and
Airbus are
getting just a
little worried
that their
dominance may be
in danger from
the Middle
Kingdom!
Mobile phones
Making calls
when travelling
Experienced
travellers know
a few tricks for
making your life
easier when you
travel
internationally.
We continue on
from last
month's
newsletter with
a few more tips
for the savvy
modern
traveller.
Free and
premium calls
Australian
1800 free
numbers, 1300
and 13 numbers
and premium-rate
numbers are
unlikely to work
from outside
Australia. And
likewise, most
other countries'
free-phone and
premium-rate
numbers will not
work unless you
are in that
country (and
don't expect a
free-phone
number called
when roaming to
be anything
close to free!).
Try and find the
normal-rate
numbers for the
same services
and use those
instead.
However,
calls from
overseas to
vRoam's 1300 747
626 help-line
are not only
possible, but
free from
vRoam's
SIMs.
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