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Honestly, is there a good reason this hasn't happened yet? If people use WhatsApp, the mobile networks get $0, so they ought to be offering at least somewhat co

Honestly, is there a good reason this hasn't happened yet? If people use WhatsApp, the mobile networks get $0, so they ought to be offering at least somewhat competitive prices...

lotsofpulp 5y ago
Why and how would the telephone networks compete with $0.00? As far as I understand, the whole telephone protocol is decades old and involves various networks paying each other based on who knows what per years old contracts at years old prices.
- vxNsr 5y ago
  VOIP from tmo/vz/att is still 100x better quality than voip from WhatsApp or zoom, I’ll choose tmo calling if it’s cheap or free over WhatsApp every time.
NavinF 5y ago
I assume it's more profitable to milk old customers that don't care about price rather than try to get new customers onto POTS. Realistically the only reason any of us would switch is lower latency calls to people that have shitty WiFi. That's an shrinking market.
baud147258 5y ago
> If people use WhatsApp, the mobile networks get $0 Doesn't the network get at least the fee for the internet connection?
- Wowfunhappy 5y ago
  Oh, I guess that’s true! But only if the user isn’t on wifi, and only if they don’t have an unlimited (or semi-unlimited) data plan.
  - baud147258 5y ago
    even then, with an unlimited (or semi-unlimited) data plan, the provider/ISP would have been paid at some point. Same with wi-fi, except that the user might not be the one paying for the connection between the wi-fi hotspot and internet, but the entity providing the connection to the WA servers would have received some money. In both cases, there's no direct relationship between messages sent/minutes of voice call and the money paid to the network provider, but the network provider still receives money in exchange of providing the connection.
    - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
      I would not stop paying for internet access if calls were free and I didn't need what's app. I don't think anyone would

Honestly, is there a good reason this hasn't happened yet? If people use WhatsApp, the mobile networks get $0, so they ought to be offering at least somewhat competitive prices...

lotsofpulp 5y ago

Why and how would the telephone networks compete with $0.00? As far as I understand, the whole telephone protocol is decades old and involves various networks paying each other based on who knows what per years old contracts at years old prices.

vxNsr 5y ago
VOIP from tmo/vz/att is still 100x better quality than voip from WhatsApp or zoom, I’ll choose tmo calling if it’s cheap or free over WhatsApp every time.

NavinF 5y ago

I assume it's more profitable to milk old customers that don't care about price rather than try to get new customers onto POTS. Realistically the only reason any of us would switch is lower latency calls to people that have shitty WiFi. That's an shrinking market.

baud147258 5y ago

> If people use WhatsApp, the mobile networks get $0 Doesn't the network get at least the fee for the internet connection?

Wowfunhappy 5y ago
Oh, I guess that’s true! But only if the user isn’t on wifi, and only if they don’t have an unlimited (or semi-unlimited) data plan.
- baud147258 5y ago
  even then, with an unlimited (or semi-unlimited) data plan, the provider/ISP would have been paid at some point. Same with wi-fi, except that the user might not be the one paying for the connection between the wi-fi hotspot and internet, but the entity providing the connection to the WA servers would have received some money. In both cases, there's no direct relationship between messages sent/minutes of voice call and the money paid to the network provider, but the network provider still receives money in exchange of providing the connection.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    I would not stop paying for internet access if calls were free and I didn't need what's app. I don't think anyone would