I have wondered at the resilience of the telecom industry for years, but now I am really starting to worry. We all know that the whole world wants to be "connected", but I am not sure that my fixed or mobile operator will be the one connecting me in the future.
I have good reason to be concerned. I don't really care much for my communications service providers (I have a few). I pay handsomely for service, but when I don't get it, which happens to be quite often, or I have to raise an issue with my provider, I simply get frustrated and angry.
Why is it that I expect more from my CSPs than my car dealer, or my supermarket or my plumber? Why do I feel let down because my experience doesn't match the marketing hype thrust upon me? And why do I go out of my way to avoid using my mobile device to access the internet or roam in other countries?
Roaming disabled
It's because I have been conditioned to act this way since the beginning of the mobile era. I felt I was privileged to be able to use the mobile networks and I was trained to expect to pay more for that privilege. The biggest benefit for a constant international traveler like myself was the ability to roam anywhere and receive calls to my one number wherever I was. Ha, how long did that last? After one roaming bill, I never made a roaming call again.
For at least 18 years I have avoided using the GSM networks' biggest benefit, preferring to buy local prepaid SIM cards, finding Wi-Fi hotspots, hooking up a small Wi-Fi router in my hotel rooms, using Skype, Viber, Whatsapp, anything to avoid voice and data roaming. I don't have a corporation paying my bills, I'm the bill payer and I hate being ripped off.