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The cost of mobile data

Rural GSM mobile phone base station

I've found myself needing access to the Internet from some remote areas, so it made sense to finally “bite the bullet” and give up; After many years of deliberation and procrastination, I recently bought myself a GPRS/EDGE data plan for my mobile phone.

So why would someone like myself — who carries around a Nokia E70 — not have bought into this earlier? Well, it's very simple: The cost of data through a mobile phone is ridiculously high compared with other more conventional broadband Internet connections.

It's not just Internet connectivity that's expensive, but SMS text-messages also seem disproportionately expensive compared with e-mail. A while ago, someone with too much time on their hands went a bit overboard detailing the cost of an SMS but neglected to understand the big picture.

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