| telephone |
[Dec. 27th, 2008|06:41 pm] |
Executive summary: My word, ATT is evil.
 
Telephones are pretty amazing. Changes everything. Most action-plots of the 20th century are obsolete because of the telephone.
I got here, and my telephone "just worked". Had to put a plus-sign in front of all the American phone numbers... but the phone showed the correct time and just plain worked.
Except: every call costs a flat rate of $2.29 per minute. Oh, well, if you call up ATT you can request an "international package" for $3.99 a month which lowers the cost to $1.99 a minute. Ai! I'm not cost sensitive, really, but, ai!
Ok, so this is how it's done, apparently. Go to any mall, and look for the ubiquitous telephone hawkers. Buy the cheapest telephone. Nokia 1200, 99 ringgits ($30). It's just a phone, and you can buy it. Then pick a shrink-wrapped "sim card" from a rack. If you care, try to choose a phone number you'll like. Plug card into phone.
(I would have liked to use my own phone, but it's "locked" to ATT and it takes a week to unlock if you send them your proof of purchase. This is to protect you.)
Then get some "top up" or "recharge" for the phone. Everyone has it! Even at 7-11, they just print it on the receipt for you! Or online, easy. 10 ringgits or whatever. It expires after 30 days. Now: cost to call US is 0.18 ringgits per minute.
Ok, great, now I can call Deb for a nickel a minute. And I have a phone that lasts a week without charging. Can she call me?
Yes! For $3.49 a minute! Easy!
Ohhhh, if you sign up for the "international package", for $3.99 a month, then she can call me for $0.22 a minute. So wait, why do you have to ask for this feature? In case you don't want it?? After 90 seconds you've broken even on it. What the? Oh, and she needed to call me to find out my social security number before they'd activate that feature.
So anyway, pardon the complicated maths up there, the key fact is that ATT has exploitative pricing and feature structures, and there oughta be a law.
My Malaysian number is 016 403 7968.
In Malaysia: 016 403 7968
From your mobile phone: +6016 403 7968
From your wired phone: 011 6016 403 7968
From your office phone: 9011 6016 403 7968 |
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| Comments: |
Or you can use some VOIP provider, and have a US phone number which you use in a foreign land.
That'd be +60 16 403 7968. Everybody needs to learn how to dial "+" for wherever they are. | |
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