Who Pays

mobile phones

If you live in the US, do you ever worry how much it costs to call a cell phone (as opposed to a regular phone)?

If you live outside the US, do you ever worry how much it costs to talk on your mobile phone when someone calls you?

The answer to both of those questions is usually no.  But, if the other group were to answer the other question, the answer would probably be yes.  Why?  Well, because of two different ways cell/mobile calls are paid.

In the caller pays system (what most of the world uses), the person who calls the mobile phone pays the cost of the phone call. The person receiving the call pays nothing.

In the other system (receiver pays) model, the call costs the same as if youwere calling a normal phone.  The person with the mobile phone pays to get the phone call to their wireless device.

I’ve lived in both places.  I like the fact that if someone calls my mobile, I don’t have to pay.  But I never like the fact that the person calling me pays for the call.  Why should they have to pay more because I choose to have a mobile/cell phone?  Given the choice, I would choose receiving party pays all the time.  It was my choice to have a mobile phone…why should someone else be penalized because having a landline is unnecessary?

Image from phossil via flickr

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