Random thoughts and observations
Telstra cops a lot of criticism, much of it justified. However, when it comes to public payphones, a reality check is appropriate. Rewind a few years to the former Telecom and the Postmaster General, there were payphones dotted at regular intervals. Mobile phones and the internet didn’t exist, milk was delivered by horse-driven carriages and television was black and white. Fast forward to the modern era and nearly everyone has a mobile phone.
I’ve been in Adelaide for three weeks now and I still don’t have a proper phone connection. The story is like something you’d expect to hear from a third world country. To begin with, I rang the phone company (known here as PC), gave them my new address and asked for a connection. Easy. It [...]
Some simple research has proved what many people have known for a long time — Australians are being ripped off by telcos when it comes to the cost of text messaging. The standard flat rate for a text message at Telstra and Optus has remained unchanged at 25 cents, while at Vodafone, a text is [...]
I filed a story today about Optus expecting a record number of text messages to be sent in Australia on New Year’s Eve. I thought it was one of those quirky yarns that people would be interested to read. Optus expects customers to send a record 57 million text messages and make 67 million mobile [...]
I have a new Google Android HTC Magic mobile phone working on the Telstra network. Telstra is not expected to offer the phone until later this year, and even then it will probably be an expensive purchase on a plan. I acquired mine from Hong Kong via eBay for $650 including postage. It was “unlocked” [...]
