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  Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2006 @ 1:42am

  
  

  with all the new "broadband phone/wireless"

  systems phone companies are bragging about, I would think data rates would go down - but then again I'm not the CEO of a major telco with pockets lined with gold, so I'm not factoring my own greed into the equation...

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    randomboy, 28 Feb 2006 @ 3:54am

    
    

    Re: with all the new

    It's all a matter of competition, there's nothing wrong with greed (greedisgood :) ). It's the greed of the telco CEOs that could drive them to lower prices as well, depending on where the point of maximum profit is.

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  Jackie Danicki, 28 Feb 2006 @ 2:33am

  
  

  No Subject Given

  I see nothing to cheer about here. One person makes a terrible, regrettable decision, and the result is a dumbed-down, "We're all toddlers now" approach to commerce. I'm glad this is self-imposed rather than any regulation, but it's still not called for. Howsabout clearly communicating costs, sending notifications when spending is getting high, and anything but treating customers like idiots?

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    Matthew, 28 Feb 2006 @ 3:19am

    
    

    Re: No Subject Given

    In my experience, the average teen IS an idiot when it comes to money. There is little to no concept of future stakes or budgeting. And while they are offering plans that will cap certain feature's costs they are not making you buy them. The nature of marketing is giving people what they want for as high a price as possible. The price was too high so they're just taking it down a notch.

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      Sean, 28 Feb 2006 @ 3:56am

      
      

      Re: No Subject Given

      I think from $4,000 to $30 is more than a notch.
      The word "cap" is misleading, as it implies the phone service will be shut off after the cap is reached. From reading the article it sounds as though the telcos are putting in a "flat rate" for the services, which is a whole different world from a cap.
      The sad thing here is the kid killed himself over what the telcos finally decided was only worth $30.

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      Professor HighBrow, 28 Feb 2006 @ 8:27am

      
      

      Cold, Man.... Cold

      While they are offering plans that will cap certain feature's costs they are not making you buy them.
      
      True, but they are misleading you into buying them. Besides, you damn fool, the point of the article is the fact that a teen committed suicide over it!
      
      That's no joke, and it's tragic. How can you shift the blame to the kid? Yeah, thats nothing to kill yourself over and it's not the companies fault, but how about reading the actual focus of the article before rushing to judgement?

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    Shiv, 28 Feb 2006 @ 3:49am

    
    

    Re: No Subject Given

    Don't know about other countries but in India, telecom companies already doing this. If you are exceeding certain limits then there will restriction on your calls and you'll get calls from their customer care that you are exceeding limits. Till now I used to think that these guys were unnecessarily doing this but I see the point now.

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  Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2006 @ 4:01am

  
  

  No Subject Given

  is this the first report that someone has killed themselves over an payable recreational device usage - or just the most recent one?
  
  i believe that casinos should go back to having $0.50 tables - all of this "$20 minimum" is just driving me to do something really bad to myself -- but I guess if I don't do it, someone else will collect... even if that means "mafia-style".
  
  whatever happened to the good'ol days of committing suicide because of a boyfriend/girlfriend? Next you will read about people doing it just because they cannot pay their bills. go figure!$#@

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  Crack Peddler, 28 Feb 2006 @ 4:46am

  
  

  Take a cue from MY business!

  Man, when MY customers find themselves not able to afford MY products, they don't commit suicide! They percevere. They get second jobs, as Prostitutes, theives, carjackers.
  
  Now THERE is the american spirit!

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  Griffon, 28 Feb 2006 @ 10:26am

  
  

  No Subject Given

  God only knows we need something like that here, Mobile data fee's are insulting and insane... How many different ways do operators really think they should get to charge you for the same traffic, it's ALL just data at this point no matter what you are doing with the phone.

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  Sea Man, 28 Feb 2006 @ 11:29am

  
  

  No Subject Given

  He didn't commit suicide because his bill was too high. He commited suicide because he was suicidal. Anything could have pushed him over the edge. It is rediculous to blame his bill.

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    Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2006 @ 11:34am

    
    

    Re: No Subject Given

    You know 3800 dollars can make or break some family's especially in Korea. That might have been a bill you could have never possibly been able to pay in the next ten years. Not to mention the late fees that may have accumilated with the 3800 dollars that he obvious was unable to pay.

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      Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2006 @ 12:23pm

      
      

      Re: No Subject Given

      oh trust me... he paid.
      
      that is, he paid the ultimate price.

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  discojohnson, 28 Feb 2006 @ 1:23pm

  
  

  not the main focus, but..

  i understand how the main focus is that someone took their life over a high phone bill, but i'd like to ask where the mobile providers think that people will actually pay those astronomical bills? sounds like they're losing money if someone has to take their life to escape a bill. then again, maybe the bill is passed on down the family? and i think the poster making the comment about the suicide happened because the kid was suicidal, and the bill was just another push to the limit. had the teen's support system been better it could have also saved their life (parents, friends).

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  phill, 23 Aug 2018 @ 5:53am

  
  

  Good for that.

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