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Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 17:06:27 -0800
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
Here is some of the learning I have experienced so far...
PHONE CARDS (fixed network)
I still haven't found the right calling card.
The comparis.ch web site doesn't touch calling cards, but it's a great site for other info.
DESK PHONES
I re-discovered that the Swiss STILL don't have phones that can do Touch-Tones [DTMF or MF-Wahl] during a call in progress!!
...especially not in office PBXes!!! Can you believe it in 2004???
HOTEL BROADBAND
My hotel (Villa Sassa) has no DSL.
My hotel does offer an 802.11b WLAN in the lobby, but you need to buy 2-hr or 24-hr units that begin once you first connect and
don't stop until they run out! (e.g. they are billing by time, whether or not you even use it ... what a rip off)
My hotel can dial-up with a modem, but ... the hotel still doesn't offer worldwide standard RJ-11 USA style phone jacks!! Can you
believe it in 2004??? So you have to drive down to the Migros at the airport in Lugano (or maybe another such store) and stock up on
adapters for AC power and phone jacks.
GSM/GPRS
GPRS is working here in Lugano with a local "sunrise.ch" GSM phone that I am borrowing.
I can purchase SIM $$ refills easily at the PTT post office in either CHF50 or CHF100 denominations ... but the PTT doesn't take
credit cards Can you believe it in 2004??? (Almost any other store or restaurant is taking credit cards so far...)
I haven't yet tried roaming with GPRS, but the sunrise.ch and comparis.ch sites claim it's no problem ... doesn't say anything about
data roaming charges ...?
For voice roaming, it's just expensive, that's all ... nothing new there ...
By the way, I think I remember that it's illegal in CH to drive while speaking on the phone ... not sure ... rental car agency has
no warning signs ... so I bought a "handsfree" headset but it doesn't work well.
-chris ... so far in Lugano
P.S. Oh yeah, I now remember how frustrating it is to sit at a red light in CH at night time (when everyone has already gone to
sleep) and you still can't turn right on red!!
----- Original Message -----
From: Diana Glocker
To: 'Chris Cavigioli'
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 3:00 PM
Subject: RE: swiss-list: GSM/GPRS/EDGE in CH? data services on prepaid SIM? broadband Internet in CH?
Hi,
Will you post your findings or copy me on them? Thank you so very much.
We will be in Locarno in July or August and will have many of the same
concerns you speak of.
Diana Glocker
-----Original Message-----
From: swiss-list-admin_at_swiss-list.com
[mailto:swiss-list-admin_at_swiss-list.com] On Behalf Of Chris Cavigioli
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:49 AM
To: Swiss List all
Subject: swiss-list: GSM/GPRS/EDGE in CH? data services on prepaid SIM?
broadband Internet in CH?
Thanks, everyone, who replied to my infrastructure Q's about being in
the Lugano area for the month of Feb.
more Q's:
INTERNET
how do people in CH connect to the Internet at home?
- V.90 dial-up?
- DSL?
- ISDN?
- something else?
how about from hotel rooms? Do hotels offer broadband Internet like all
big hotels in Asia do?
GSM DATA
For voice calls, I plan to bring my Motorola i2000 tri-band GSM mobile
phone
... I know it's not the latest and greatest, but it works worldwide. I
expect
to purchase a pre-paid SIM card when I arrive in CH.
I toyed around with the idea of getting GSM/GPRS/EDGE data services here
in
USA, possibly with the Treo 600 phone [ooops, it's not EDGE capable]
I checked with AT&T Wireless today at the retail store near Market / 3rd
about the Treo 600 phone and they:
- didn't know about international data roaming charges
- didn't know if Treo 600 can be SIM-unlocked [why in the world they
SIM-lock non-subsidized phones, I'll never understand]
- didn't think data services exist in pre-paid SIMs
I was thinking about what would happen if I bought a Treo 600 and took
it with me to CH.
Data services in USA seem to have priced themselves out of their own
market ...
I imagine if I try to roam with this service in CH, then I will have a
fortune
to pay on my bill (or pre-paid SIM?).
HAS ANYONE HEARD if there exists such things as pre-paid SIM cards in CH
that include data services?
HAS Switzerland deployed GPRS? EDGE?
Are data services available to visiting roamers in CH?
Thanks again for emailing directly to me....
-chris
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Received on Tue Feb 10 2004 - 03:03:24 PST
