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Canadian cell phone industry killed goverment tool for cell phone plan pricing for consumer

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The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
 
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
Click to expand...

Spot on there! :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
Click to expand...

Same thing with individuals...they can be expected to act in their own best interest. Does that absolve them of responsibility too? Corporations should have similar civic responsibilities/duties since they have (or are allowed/given/prescribed) so much power in our society.
 
Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
Click to expand...

Same thing with individuals...they can be expected to act in their own best interest. Does that absolve them of responsibility too? Corporations should have similar civic responsibilities/duties since they have (or are allowed/given/prescribed) so much power in our society.
Click to expand...

So what you're saying is that citizens who vote in their own self interest are scumbag citizens?
 
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
Click to expand...

Same thing with individuals...they can be expected to act in their own best interest. Does that absolve them of responsibility too? Corporations should have similar civic responsibilities/duties since they have (or are allowed/given/prescribed) so much power in our society.
Click to expand...

So what you're saying is that citizens who vote in their own self interest are scumbag citizens?
Click to expand...

Selfish people have ruined the world.
 
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The problem isn't the "scumbag industry" -- all industries can be expected to act in their own best interest. The problem is a system of government where an industry can control the government to such a degree......
Click to expand...

Same thing with individuals...they can be expected to act in their own best interest. Does that absolve them of responsibility too? Corporations should have similar civic responsibilities/duties since they have (or are allowed/given/prescribed) so much power in our society.
Click to expand...

So what you're saying is that citizens who vote in their own self interest are scumbag citizens?
Click to expand...

I think what he is saying is that people are too lazy to shop around for their cell phone plan and when they just settle on a plan they are not "acting in their own best interest".

That is what I find funny about all of the faux outrage over the "evil corporations". If you don't like their product, stop buying it. If it is possible to offer the same product at a lower price and still have a competitive company than start your own company. Drive that "evil corporation" out of business.
 
I don't see why some stupid cellphone bill calculator website should cost tens of thousands of dollars, and I also don't see why private citizens can create a website like that themselves if they want to.

It is bad that the industry was able to kibosh it, however really if you're not able to figure out what your cell phone bill is going to be, then really you shouldn't even buy one.

The one way I think the government should get involved with cellphones is to somehow make cheap 3G wireless VOIP an option for people. I don't think it would take up much of the spectrum at all, and would be a huge benefit to everyone. It would give everyone unlimited cellphone use for under $20/month including long distance North America wide. The only thing stopping this is greed.
 
Originally posted by: SickBeast
I don't see why some stupid cellphone bill calculator website should cost tens of thousands of dollars, and I also don't see why private citizens can create a website like that themselves if they want to.

It is bad that the industry was able to kibosh it, however really if you're not able to figure out what your cell phone bill is going to be, then really you shouldn't even buy one.
Click to expand...


100% spot on.
 
That's bad. I think lobbying is even worse in the US. It is a poison that needs to be given lethal doses of chemotherapy. It truly is vote buying in any practical application of the term.
 
Originally posted by: SickBeast
I don't see why some stupid cellphone bill calculator website should cost tens of thousands of dollars, and I also don't see why private citizens can create a website like that themselves if they want to.

It is bad that the industry was able to kibosh it, however really if you're not able to figure out what your cell phone bill is going to be, then really you shouldn't even buy one.
Click to expand...

Yes, I don't see why the government should need to build a site like that, but if it did build such a tool, the fact that government is so far in the pocket of an industry that the site would get scrapped after being completed is sad commentary on the political system.
 
Cellphone plans here in Canada are nowhere as competitive as they are in the US. Eg the best plan I am able to find is $70 for $600 minutes and 1GB of data, but with taxes/fees and a couple of things like caller ID it gets to be typically $150 or more. Plus once you roam outside your city you get billed LD for all calls on top of it.

To make things worse, just having three carriers (should improve soon) has had zero competitiveness here and in the past the plans have been confusing as hell. A well made tool such as this one would've given the not so sharp a simple way to figure out what stuff was actually going to cost, which of course would bring awareness to pricing, which of course leads to lower margins.

Just sucks the stupid industry was able to overpower the govt with lobbyists. Same happened couple of weeks ago when Bell was allowed usage based billing for broadband.
 
I think this tool would have been quite nice for the general public.

Just to look at my phone bill, I am officially on a "couples plan" which provides access for two people for $35/mo, unlimited text and calls between eachother.

Since every call I'm likely to make is long distance I badgered my carrier and got 2000 long distance minutes for free.

Add in 911, "system access" and "expanded network" fees for each person and my bill is $80/mo.

While I'm quite happy paying this for what I get, I do feel that >100% over the advertised price in "fees" is a somewhat shady practice at best.
 
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