Subj : cellular services in Deutschland vs. USFA
To   : fU
From : Khelair
Date : Sun Mar 01 2015 05:29:00

  Re: Re: Internet 'kill switch'
  By: fU to Khelair on Sun Mar 01 2015 00:27:37

 fU> D1 is now known as T1 network from the "Deutsche Telekom AG" D2 (former
 fU> mannesmann D2) is now vodafone. both cell-networks are operating in the
 fU> GSM-900 frequency. O2 and E-Plus are still on air. they using the 1800
 fU> frequency. that's the reason why you can have with another provider on
 fU> the same place a different singnal strength.

  The thing I miss the very most is being able to grab a quad-band phone over
there and be able to _easily_ switch to whatever network I wanted.  Vendor
lock-in here is absolutely huge and atrocious.

 fU> but that's not the end of the big cell-marked here. all those "big
 fU> players" are offering sub-networks. E-Plus had a "low-cost or budget
 fU> brand" called BASE and BLAU.DE. BASE have shops, and BLUE.DE is a
 fU> prepaid-provider only. you can buy the sim-card in a grocery or a
 fU> tech-shop. than you actived the card with a password via internet and
 fU> can use this card. to charge your card with fresh money you can go to a
 fU> gas-station or other stores and buy a charge-code. but i think that's no
 fU> so much different as in the US.

  Well, most of that is the same as the US, it's just not quite as easy...  For
instance, you can't get a card except at the phone shop, and it's going to be
vendor locked in.  Switching to a new carrier is horrifying, and usually
requires a new phone as well as a new sim card, unless you do some low-level
hacking 'n cracking.
  Re-upping phones is tough, too.  You can't just go anywhere and get a print-
out.  You have to go to one of the few stores that sell re-up cards to utilize,
and those are only available for pre-paid phones.  Some stores sell one and
handle one, some sell another...  Nothing you can re-up in a gas station, which
is yet another thing I miss about being voer there.

 fU> round about 40(!) cell-phone provider are on the marked. but all of them
 fU> are a sub-company or a network-renting corp by one the big player.

  Damn.

 fU> using cell-phone is very cheap. you can book a flat to all networks
 fU> including the fixnet and mobile-internet for about 20 euros/month. 4G
 fU> have higher costs and internationals calls also. people in europe how
 fU> pay the most for the cellphone use are speaking also german (mostly).
 fU> they live in switzerland :)

  Yeah I remember that.  I can't complain, I'm getting my cell service for free
right now, but when I'm paying for it again, I know my rates are going to be
horrific compared to EU rates.

 fU> ok enough about explaining for today.

  *grin*

 fU> http://www.in.all.biz/img/in/catalog/152139.jpeg
 fU> that's how a gsm modem look like.

  *takes a look*
  So that is RF to serial?  Sorry, maybe I'm mixing up discussions here...

-=-
Borg Burgers:  We do it our way; your way is irrelevant.
--- SBBSecho 2.27-OpenBSD
 * Origin: Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS - 9:91/11 SurvivalNet (9:91/11)

.