Situated on an international border and within sight of two more countries, the mobile phone reception in Taba varied. I was served by, variously, Vodafone EG and MobiNil, both Egyptian; AlJawwal, which is either Saudi or Jordanian; Orange Israel, MobileCom, also, I think Israeli; and my favourite, who, as I passed Judea, txtd me:
Marhaba. Smell the jasmine and taste the olives. Jawwal welcomes you to Palestine.Subtle and beautiful propaganda! Yesterday, MobiNil txtd
Hope you enjoyed your stay in Egypt & MobiNil's services (please use us next time you visit Egypt)
I am not really bothered who provides the cell, as long as I can send and receive texts to the extent that I wish to.
I was surprised at some of my fellow holiday makers. One complained that she was stuck with a Saudi provider, and she didn't want that, she would have preferred an Israeli one. Someone else moaned that it kept changing. I explained that in the UK we move from cell to cell, without knowing it - we've only noticed it in Taba because of the presence of international borders.
Then people complained that it is £5 per minute to call, and 'it's all satellites in the end it mustn't cost them anymore to send a call to and from a satellite regardless of where you are...'. Well, true. I was surprised, really. They were all boasting about their wonderfully successful businesses (remember Harry Enfield's 'I'm significantly richer than you are'). It shouldn't really have taken a Civil Servant to explain the basic principles of pricing policy - ie that prices are sometimes based on cost-plus, and sometimes on what the market will sustain. Only, I didn't phrase it that way - I would have sounded like an accountant. Instead, I said - hey, that's the way International Capitalism works. If you don't like it, overthrow International Capitalism.
Thinking about it, though. I survived without a mobile in Cuba, because there is no international agreement between my then provider, Vodafone UK and the Cuban provider. I survived for three weeks in the USA because their flaky technology was not at the time compatible with my GSM phone. Prior to that I survived in very many places because I didn't have a mobile, or it was received wisdom not to use it abroad.
I had a modicum of sympathy with the guy who knew he was paying a fortune for incoming business calls, and for the inadvertent dialling when he left the keypad unlocked in his pocket. Then, I thought, a simple change to his voice mail "I am currently out of the country. Please leave a message or call my business partner" followed by the 'off' button would have saved him a fortune.
People don't always realise when you go abroad, and people call you from home, you pay for the privilege of having that call transferred from the UK to wherever you are. I was abroad with someone last year who ran out of credit as a result of receiving calls from home. Fortunately for her, she was with a sister I mean friend er acquaintance with a monthly contract...
