I see the NBTC has been successful in getting mobile operators (BP, Jan 8) to finally accept per-second pricing. Now, how about doing something about SIM card validity?
Almost every carrier has a different formula for extending the validity of your SIM card. Some require a certain amount of usage, others require a “top-up” to increase the validity and some allow you to pay a reasonable fee to increase the amount of time your SIM card would remain valid.
Isn’t it about time the NBTC set some rules on exactly what should be required to keep a SIM card valid, especially when your SIM card is effectively your mobile number?
If your number is no longer valid it is pretty much impossible to use your bank account to transfer funds, pay bills, or do any other transaction away from a branch.
Mobile access is no longer a luxury but has become a necessity in all aspects of daily life so let’s have some rules on keeping that all important mobile number.
David Leiker
Well done, NBTC
Re: “Phone users robbed”, (PostBag, Jan 8).
I would like to add that Orange (now “True Move”) used to charge by the second. In fact, it was one of their key selling points. After they became “established”, they switched to charging by the minute as other operators do. As with AIS and Dtac, the problem is they never round down, only up, obviously to their advantage. Even if your call lasts three seconds, you’ll be charged a full minute.
Surprisingly, nobody noticed or complained (or maybe somebody did, but not loudly enough). That’s why we ended up with the status quo. Thus, this new per-second charge proposal by the NBTC should be a welcome change for consumers but certainly not for mobile operators. Way to go, NBTC!
Andy Colmes
Road toll still awful
Further to Burin Kantabutra’s (PostBag, Jan 8) remarks on the New Year road toll, in real terms the number of fatalities is down by 7%, namely 341 deaths from 367 the previous year, so we all think “what a good job”.
In fact, the accident to death ratio is up, from 8.65 to 8.78. A total of 341 lives lost in seven days is just staggering.
The other thing is not to discount the figures for injuries. There is a big difference between suffering light injuries and ending up a disabled person for the rest of your life that the community has to support.
It would be interesting to see the daily average accident figures over the whole year and evaluate what percentage increase the holiday period brings about. It’s probably not a substantial number.
Ramie
March away the guilty
Re: “Pheu Thai member threatens NLA”, (BP, Jan 7).
If the Pheu Thai Party loves its country and wishes it to move forward in peace it needs to take a close look at itself and admit to some abhorrent failures in its duty. The former prime minister was responsible for running the government. The chairman of the rice committee was responsible for whatever went wrong there. Yingluck Shinawatra held both of these positions.
If she has the good grace to stand up and apologise for the shambles she was responsible for, by all means let her retire from the scene. No need for impeachment. Her failure to do so has been the trigger for the coup and all that came before it.
If rank and file MPs had not followed the directions of “the boss” but thought about their constituents, they would not have nodded through the amnesty bill. The nodding dogs should be sent back to their kennels. Other parties with mud on their boots should also be marched away from the scene of the crime. There is no other way out of the roundabout.
RICHARD BOWLER
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