blast from the past

[cellio]

I just got a phone message, at work, from a researcher in Belgium who had questions about NetBill, a project I worked on at CMU in the mid-90s. Nifty

Comments

[rectangularcat]

You need to get your phone specifically approved for international calls. It's silly and I really don't understand why they do that.

[geekosaur]

Because of cellphone theft (and theft of service via cloned ID chips). Used to be that stolen phones/IDs racked up huge international LD bills.

[cellio]

Do they really mean "international", or do they mean "overseas"? I've never tried to call the (Canadian) in-laws from my cell phone, but I'd be pretty annoyed if I couldn't -- because if I were trying to do such a thing, it would be because I was lost on the streets of Toronto and needed navigational assistance Right Now.

[chaiya]

My T-Mobile phone has a deal through which I can call all 50 states and Canada for regular useage charges. Canada isn't considered international. To get international calling, though, I had to go through a credit check, and I actually failed it the first time. They had some weird requirements like having a full year of service, all bills paid on time for the past 12 months, plus credit rating approval. After the first time I failed, I had to wait 6 months to apply for it again! So, yeah. International calling is apparently only for the rich and timely. I am not really either of those things. I finally passed, but it was hugely irritating. :(

[rectangularcat]

I think that depends on your provider. In my case it was overseas and Voicestream had outrageous rates there. I think that since T-mobile took over they became more reasonable.

I loved the fact that Canadian calls were treated on par with American ones. Most of my calls were to Steve in Vancouver and I used the mobile mostly on weekends when I was visiting there (This way my relatives could reach me)