Hi jororiggs,
You raise fair points however I'll give you my opinions.
On issue of SureSignal. I can understand it's a frustration to have to pay for the device though the way I look at it is what you pay is nothing in comparison to the benefit it gives.
Many users who purchase and use the SureSignal because they cannot get connection to their local cell site hence they wouldn't be 'clogging' it up. My parents have one because where they live the connection isn't great and often drops out, With the Sure Signal this is no longer an issue.
In terms of charging a reduced rate for calls/texts/browsing routed via the SS i don't feel it should be the case. Vodafone need to pay for the maintenance and further development or the SS systems on their end, also remember if your calling another network Vodafone have to pay to connect your call throught to them so their overall costs for you placing a call via SS could actually be higher, Vodafone will never relase the figures o it's something we will never know.
As for roaming the call termination charges would be ridiculous between networks and costs to end users would just get silly + the networks would never agree on a standard pricing structure.
I think it's Ofcom that set pricing in the UK so there woudln't be much in it i guess.
I can see the beneifts of it from a customer perspective however the downside would be that Networks woudln't feel any need to keep upgrading areas as they can rely on roaming.
Overall i think that would be bad for consumers.
It's going to me amatter of opinoin though, will be good to see what other think.
Hi jororiggs
Thank you for your posts and you raise some very interesting points as does Nabs.
The Sure Signal is a great device unique to us and is there to help customers in poor signal locations and remote areas to use their mobile devices and the points raised by Nabs are great examples. Also, imagine the benefits of small businesses using these as well helping them to run and grow.
You are correct that the device itself is sold at a lower cost of what it takes to manufacture, so we pay a considerable amount for each unit so a customer can benefit from our services although calling other networks would still create inter-connect costs as well.
In an ideal world all the networks could link up and use each others networks, however as it stands the inter-connect costs would be monumental and where do you think this cost would go? I would say that a large proportion would be tailored into every price plan but that is only my opinion.
It could be said for many things, cars for example all have wheels, chassis' and engines. Why not have all manufacturers make the lot?
There are still costs whilst roaming and we have developed packages and agreements with other countries to keep the costs as little as possible for the customer, this can be seen in our Vodafone Passport for example.
We are a business and although we provide a service in a market used by the majority of the population we still have goals to achieve and grow as a business to provide better services and new developments.
Many Thanks
DaveCD
eForum Team
