I wrote before how the telecom industry sticks it to us in "fringe" services. It is particularly bad when you travel because then everyone seems to pile on - airports, hotels, and of course the "men" themselves.
So, here is what I have noticed on my trip so far:
a) Miami Mart Sheraton (near airport). WI-FI at $ 9.95 a day or you can use one of their 10+ roaming "partners". No sign of T-Mobile or Boingo on the list, both of which I already pay a monthly fee to. Sign up for the $ 9.95 service. b) Delta Crown Room Atlanta Airport. All Crown rooms have T-Mobile HotSpots, but the airport defaults to its own service and I end up having to pay a roaming premium to T-Mobile. In recent past travels paid similar premiums at Newark and Chicago O'Hare. (Have airports heard that their fellow administrators a few miles away are trying to offer free municipal WI-FI? It is particularly jarring when you are at an airport only for an hour to pay a 24 hour charge. Kudos to airports like Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando which are offering free WI-FI) c) Land in UK - my phone recognizes 4 local mobile networks but they will not let me register. Must be an issue with Cingular. I suspect my accountant has schemed this because mobile calls back to the US range from $ 1 to 2 per minute from the places I am going this week. d) Hotel in UK. Get a break. Free WI-FI. Get on Skype. Calls to US numbers a very reasonable 2c a minute. Call to a UK mobile number a few miles from my hotel - 25c a minute! Go figure.
That's just one person, one trip. Think of how much corporations are paying for mobile employees.
Or may be I should wait for someone to come up with the ultimate "bundle" - land-line, long-distance, cable, hotspot, mobile....Google, interested in my business?
Comments
The "Men" and Travel
I wrote before how the telecom industry sticks it to us in "fringe" services. It is particularly bad when you travel because then everyone seems to pile on - airports, hotels, and of course the "men" themselves.
So, here is what I have noticed on my trip so far:
a) Miami Mart Sheraton (near airport). WI-FI at $ 9.95 a day or you can use one of their 10+ roaming "partners". No sign of T-Mobile or Boingo on the list, both of which I already pay a monthly fee to. Sign up for the $ 9.95 service. b) Delta Crown Room Atlanta Airport. All Crown rooms have T-Mobile HotSpots, but the airport defaults to its own service and I end up having to pay a roaming premium to T-Mobile. In recent past travels paid similar premiums at Newark and Chicago O'Hare. (Have airports heard that their fellow administrators a few miles away are trying to offer free municipal WI-FI? It is particularly jarring when you are at an airport only for an hour to pay a 24 hour charge. Kudos to airports like Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando which are offering free WI-FI) c) Land in UK - my phone recognizes 4 local mobile networks but they will not let me register. Must be an issue with Cingular. I suspect my accountant has schemed this because mobile calls back to the US range from $ 1 to 2 per minute from the places I am going this week. d) Hotel in UK. Get a break. Free WI-FI. Get on Skype. Calls to US numbers a very reasonable 2c a minute. Call to a UK mobile number a few miles from my hotel - 25c a minute! Go figure.
That's just one person, one trip. Think of how much corporations are paying for mobile employees.
Or may be I should wait for someone to come up with the ultimate "bundle" - land-line, long-distance, cable, hotspot, mobile....Google, interested in my business?
The "Men" and Travel
I wrote before how the telecom industry sticks it to us in "fringe" services. It is particularly bad when you travel because then everyone seems to pile on - airports, hotels, and of course the "men" themselves.
So, here is what I have noticed on my trip so far:
a) Miami Mart Sheraton (near airport). WI-FI at $ 9.95 a day or you can use one of their 10+ roaming "partners". No sign of T-Mobile or Boingo on the list, both of which I already pay a monthly fee to. Sign up for the $ 9.95 service.
b) Delta Crown Room Atlanta Airport. All Crown rooms have T-Mobile HotSpots, but the airport defaults to its own service and I end up having to pay a roaming premium to T-Mobile. In recent past travels paid similar premiums at Newark and Chicago O'Hare. (Have airports heard that their fellow administrators a few miles away are trying to offer free municipal WI-FI? It is particularly jarring when you are at an airport only for an hour to pay a 24 hour charge. Kudos to airports like Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando which are offering free WI-FI)
c) Land in UK - my phone recognizes 4 local mobile networks but they will not let me register. Must be an issue with Cingular. I suspect my accountant has schemed this because mobile calls back to the US range from $ 1 to 2 per minute from the places I am going this week.
d) Hotel in UK. Get a break. Free WI-FI. Get on Skype. Calls to US numbers a very reasonable 2c a minute. Call to a UK mobile number a few miles from my hotel - 25c a minute! Go figure.
That's just one person, one trip. Think of how much corporations are paying for mobile employees.
May be I should just get the new T-Mobile MDA?
Or may be I should wait for someone to come up with the ultimate "bundle" - land-line, long-distance, cable, hotspot, mobile....Google, interested in my business?
March 26, 2006 in Industry Commentary | Permalink