FCC makes it official: Cellular carriers policies getting a closer look

Europe has it better because they dont pay for incoming text and talk... that is all on the caller, not the callee.
Also, we should not have to listen to the annoying lady that explains what to do in a message (if someone has stupid friends then they should leave instructions themselves).
Next, text message charges (at all) are ridiculous if you already pay for a data plan... nuff said in that department.
Lastly, allow people to make free phone calls (unlimited minutes) when they have access to wifi... it doesnt cost the cell provider ANYTHING to do this except the upfront cost to create the feature. They dont host any of your bandwidth for calls when on wifi, so it should cost nothing.

When we say we want it like Europe, we have to remember that they spend a heck of a lot more a month for calls (in general)

please nuke AT&Ts horrible policy/pricing for text messages. No other carrier screws over the customer so badly.

My point is that your experience is subjective, and only counts to point out how ATT's service affects YOU. We often hear about those who have problems, or are dissatisfied with their service, like you, but rarely from folks like me, so it SOUNDS like they have a lousy network.

How many of those who have groused over the last two years, once ATT came into their neck of the woods and improved things, have actually taken the opportunity to get back on and relate their IMPROVED service? Not many, I'd guess.

In my case, I often travel into Frederick County, MD, where I rent out a house I own. Up until early this year, ATT had NO 3G service there, and even their EDGE was lousy, cause it's a heavily hilled area with lots of dead spots.

Today? All 3G, and with the exception of some deep valleys where almost nobody lives, they have good 3G coverage all over the county.

This is a BIG country, geographically, and even though ATT is spending (according to its claims) billions (with a B) of dollars to improve their network, that sheer size means they have to prioritize where that new capability will be placed.

Yer either lucky or yer not.

I have an iPhone and live in Maryland, within the District of Columbia metro area. Our service here with ATT is great, and even in the northern rural county of Frederick, they've got 3G service. (Just got it this year)

Very few dropped calls, and many of those can be explained by building interference with carrier signals, other carriers could have dropped them and not ATT, etc. Good sound quality, decent speed for data.

I agree that we are badly overcharged for text, and my own experience with a trip to europe echoes that of others, we ARE being ripped a big one over that!

ATT and other carriers are negotiating with the Metrorail system to get coverage in the tunnels - that hit the Washington Post in the last two weeks, until now, only Verizon had that agreement and coverage. It'll be nice to have!

Otherwise, I have no issues with ATT. Billing has been consistent and correct, and I have no issues with their network.

Oh, and I love the iPhone, too!

Good! They don't just need a closer look. They need an enema. It's wrong for the carriers to tell manufactures what to build into their phones, and it's wrong to have customers tied to a carrier just to get the phone that they want. I should be able to legally use my iPhone on any carrier with the infrastructure to support it WITHOUT having to jailbreak.

When I was on ATT, the cheapest 450 minute plan for 40 bucks works out to less than 10 cents a minute. and you keep your extra minutes. and nights and weekends are free.

The normal rate here in Spain is about 0.30€ per minute to make a call. that's a little more than 40 cents. and there is a 0.17€ connection fee just to place a call regardless of how long you talk. sure, incoming calls are free but they really get you on the other side. People here almost never use their mobiles.

I'm moving back to the states in about a month and can't wait for how much cheaper the mobile rates are. When people complain about ATT rates I don't think you know how good it is.

The situation in Europe is not as rosy as you might think. Especially for European roaming, country to country.

Take the example of the '3' network. Up until July you could buy a PAYG SIM for £10 and get 1GB of data, which you could use on any '3' network across Europe - great deal. But after July this contract deal was broken by '3' and now they charge £1.25/MB (£1250 per GB!!!).

That's quite a price hike.

Most other carriers charge the same. No one provides Europe wide coverage.

Your friends in Europe are suffering thanks to AT&T. Its not like GV is on the UK iTunes store.

Of course, Europe is rather diverse in that matter. Each country has its own national networks and usually there are roaming charges abroad, even if using the same company. So the European market may be better comapared with US statewide carriers - which I know to exist, but nothing more.

That said: usually you get a better or deal than in the US. Here in Austria with it's highly competitive market I get a much better deal - 18 EUR for 2 SIM cards, both with 300 minutes nationwide outgoing calls (remember, incoming calls are free), one with 1.1 GB of data, one with 100 texts per month and free calls & texts between the 2 cards. Thethering BTW doesn't cost extra. In other (larger) countries it is usually more expensive, but even there usually it's cheaper than in the US.

As for the reasons, I think that the standardization towards GSM & UMTS has caused lower switching. Costs for users who can re-use their existing cell phones in other networks. (Also, the phones can be purchased not only at the network operators - a plus for those geeks that need the latest uberphone and don't have to wait until their operator carries it). The other thing is, that Europe generally distinguishes between landline and mobile prefixes, with higher charges for mobile callls. On the one hand, this allows incoming calls to be free, on the other hand, landline callers have subsidized Europe's mobile phone users until recently because of this.