Mobile Phone Tariffs for Deaf Users

Are there any Mobile Phone Tariffs for Deaf Users?


I have for 20 years now put up with buying into phone plans that
supply 1,000 of free talk time to attract customers and have for years
paid punitive rates for SMS messages.

At home I use FREE e-mail and various FREE Instant messenger systems
to contact my mainly hearing friends and family.

My BT phone bill is always expensive and so complicated to understand
I don't even bother opening it to see how I need to pay £50 but only
made £5 worth of "calls" - mostly visitors borrowing a cheap call
because like 99% of people with a flashy mobile these days they have
"run out of credit" .

A New era is finally upon us, Smart phones - The flashy TV commercials
- web-sites promise at last MSN LIVE MESSENGER - GOOGLEMAIL - SKYPE -
YAHOO MESSENGER and of course many others available now 24 hours a
day. At home but far more importantly for the deaf for almost the
first time there is an easy way to communicate beyond specialist
closed devices - The SmartPhone promises universal communications -
that is something the hearing world have taken advantage of almost
since the invention of the telephone and never more so than in the age
of the mobile.

Three's X series looks compelling - but even as an IT professional I
found it almost impossible to establish exactly what "fair usage" of
their bandwidth really meant - but hey - they have loads worthless
free "hearing minutes" I'm not knocking THREE I'm sure in the hearing
world its a fantastic deal - I just resent committing myself to an
outrageous 18 month contract paying for stuff I cannot use, The Orange
site is no better but they thoughtfully provide to completely useless
telephone numbers on their disability access page. GRRRR - A quick
scan of all the major telephone networks paint a similar picture.

Well Im not going to take it any more!

And if I have made you question for a moment that the phone in your
pocket represents excellent value for money to a deaf user then I
invite you to get vocal about it too.


So Phone companies - Stuff your Free Hearing Mins - Music Downloads -
Ringtones - FM Radios - 18 month contracts - and fat-cat price plans.

STOP RIPPING US OFF.

Its now technologically simple for any phone network to create a Deaf
Price Plan that would allow us to communicate easily with the hearing
world through a universal device with internationally recognised
standards - yet its being excluded from a large community - is it not
time for the phone companies to take our voice seriously - or will the
regulators OFCOM do it for us? - don't bank on it - their website
advice to Deaf users is "look at the service providers price lists on-
line" and confusingly recommends the w3c.org web-site - really useful
if you are a budding website designer.
The RNID site sections on mobile phone is little more than a buyers
guide that reads like it was written when mobiles were first
introduced but I guess if you don't know what an SMS message is - its
the place to go.

So has ANYONE out there found a better deal - a provider that
understands the problems deaf people have using phones - and more
importantly can do it so that the most disadvantaged in our society
are not penalised any longer for being disabled.

DavidDB wrote:

>
> So has ANYONE out there found a better deal - a provider that
> understands the problems deaf people have using phones - and more
> importantly can do it so that the most disadvantaged in our society
> are not penalised any longer for being disabled.
>

Ask for the Vodafone text only tariff if they still do it, one
of my deaf friends is on it. 1000 sms £20 a month.

--
xCx
*Disclaimer* My opinions are mine and I do not represent
anyone or any company.

xCx wrote:
> DavidDB wrote:
>
>>
>> So has ANYONE out there found a better deal - a provider that
>> understands the problems deaf people have using phones - and more
>> importantly can do it so that the most disadvantaged in our society
>> are not penalised any longer for being disabled.
>>
>
> Ask for the Vodafone text only tariff if they still do it, one of my
> deaf friends is on it. 1000 sms £20 a month.
>

Apologies for replying to my own post, but it's called
Vodafone messenger plus, and it's £20 a month for 3000 text
messages.

More information available at...

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatc...ageID=PDS_0017

or

http://urlcut.com/1kpyt

--
xCx
*Disclaimer* My opinions are mine and I do not represent
anyone or any company.

xCx wrote:
> xCx wrote:
>> DavidDB wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> So has ANYONE out there found a better deal - a provider that
>>> understands the problems deaf people have using phones - and more
>>> importantly can do it so that the most disadvantaged in our society
>>> are not penalised any longer for being disabled.
>>>
>>
>> Ask for the Vodafone text only tariff if they still do it, one of my
>> deaf friends is on it. 1000 sms £20 a month.
>>
>
> Apologies for replying to my own post, but it's called Vodafone
> messenger plus, and it's £20 a month for 3000 text messages.
>
> More information available at...
>
> http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatc...ageID=PDS_0017
>
>
> or
>
> http://urlcut.com/1kpyt
>

300 text messages. Not 3000.

"Vodafone Messaging Plus has been designed for people who prefer to use
text messages rather than making voice calls. You can still make and
receive calls, but you can enjoy text, picture and video messaging
without paying for any inclusive voice minutes.

You get an extras pack of 300 text messages or 100 picture messages or
60 video messages, or any combination of these up to the equivalent
value, or you can use the value to browse non-Vodafone live! pages.

Vodafone Messaging Plus is a pay monthly price plan and is available on
18 month contracts."

So, it's an 18 month contract @ £20 per month for 300 text messages...
seems rather expensive to me considering their PAYG service allows you
to add 500 texts for £15.
<http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=template10&pageID=PPP_00 11>

>
> 300 text messages. Not 3000.
>
> "Vodafone Messaging Plus has been designed for people who prefer to use
> text messages rather than making voice calls. You can still make and
> receive calls, but you can enjoy text, picture and video messaging
> without paying for any inclusive voice minutes.
>
> You get an extras pack of 300 text messages or 100 picture messages or
> 60 video messages, or any combination of these up to the equivalent
> value, or you can use the value to browse non-Vodafone live! pages.
>
> Vodafone Messaging Plus is a pay monthly price plan and is available on
> 18 month contracts."
>
> So, it's an 18 month contract @ £20 per month for 300 text messages...
> seems rather expensive to me considering their PAYG service allows you
> to add 500 texts for £15.
> <http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=template10&pageID=PPP_00 11>
>
>

Don't know where I got 3000 from, mustn't have had my eyes on
this morning.

300 is shite isn't it? Could have sworn it said 3000!
--
xCx
*Disclaimer* My opinions are mine and I do not represent
anyone or any company.

DavidDB wrote:
> Three's X series looks compelling - but even as an IT professional I
> found it almost impossible to establish exactly what "fair usage" of

3's fair use policy for X-Series is here
<http://www.three.co.uk/xseries/fair_use_policy.omp#fair>

In summary: 1Gbyte data & 10000 Windows Messenger messages per month.

> their bandwidth really meant - but hey - they have loads worthless
> free "hearing minutes" I'm not knocking THREE I'm sure in the hearing
> world its a fantastic deal - I just resent committing myself to an
> outrageous 18 month contract paying for stuff I cannot use,

3 are also currently offering Windows Messenger on PAYG until the end of
2007. You could try it out and switch to a contract later?
<http://www.three.co.uk/personal/price_plans_/promotions_/windows_live_payg.omp>

The small print at the bottom says 200 Messenger messages per day or
6000 per month. Out of interest: is that too low, too many or about right?

> The Orange
> site is no better but they thoughtfully provide to completely useless
> telephone numbers on their disability access page. GRRRR - A quick
> scan of all the major telephone networks paint a similar picture.

T-Mobile offer FlexT tariffs which allow you to spend all your money on
texts rather than voice. (And they also include MMS which might be
useful if pictures are easier than words.) But, for pure texting, 3
looks to be the best.

Hope this helps.

--
Bruce Horrocks
Surrey
England
(bruce at scorecrow dot com)

In message 1182908442.998126.82600@n2g2000hse.googlegroups.co m,
DavidDB <david.hewett@gmail.com> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:

> Are there any Mobile Phone Tariffs for Deaf Users?
>
>
> I have for 20 years now put up with buying into phone plans that
> supply 1,000 of free talk time to attract customers and have for years
> paid punitive rates for SMS messages.
>
> At home I use FREE e-mail and various FREE Instant messenger systems
> to contact my mainly hearing friends and family.
>
> My BT phone bill is always expensive and so complicated to understand
> I don't even bother opening it to see how I need to pay £50 but only
> made £5 worth of "calls" - mostly visitors borrowing a cheap call
> because like 99% of people with a flashy mobile these days they have
> "run out of credit" .
>
> A New era is finally upon us, Smart phones - The flashy TV commercials
> - web-sites promise at last MSN LIVE MESSENGER - GOOGLEMAIL - SKYPE -
> YAHOO MESSENGER and of course many others available now 24 hours a
> day. At home but far more importantly for the deaf for almost the
> first time there is an easy way to communicate beyond specialist
> closed devices - The SmartPhone promises universal communications -
> that is something the hearing world have taken advantage of almost
> since the invention of the telephone and never more so than in the age
> of the mobile.
>
> Three's X series looks compelling - but even as an IT professional I
> found it almost impossible to establish exactly what "fair usage" of
> their bandwidth really meant - but hey - they have loads worthless
> free "hearing minutes" I'm not knocking THREE I'm sure in the hearing
> world its a fantastic deal - I just resent committing myself to an
> outrageous 18 month contract paying for stuff I cannot use, The Orange
> site is no better but they thoughtfully provide to completely useless
> telephone numbers on their disability access page. GRRRR - A quick
> scan of all the major telephone networks paint a similar picture.
>
> Well Im not going to take it any more!
>
> And if I have made you question for a moment that the phone in your
> pocket represents excellent value for money to a deaf user then I
> invite you to get vocal about it too.
>
>
> So Phone companies - Stuff your Free Hearing Mins - Music Downloads -
> Ringtones - FM Radios - 18 month contracts - and fat-cat price plans.
>
> STOP RIPPING US OFF.
>
> Its now technologically simple for any phone network to create a Deaf
> Price Plan that would allow us to communicate easily with the hearing
> world through a universal device with internationally recognised
> standards - yet its being excluded from a large community - is it not
> time for the phone companies to take our voice seriously - or will the
> regulators OFCOM do it for us? - don't bank on it - their website
> advice to Deaf users is "look at the service providers price lists on-
> line" and confusingly recommends the w3c.org web-site - really useful
> if you are a budding website designer.
> The RNID site sections on mobile phone is little more than a buyers
> guide that reads like it was written when mobiles were first
> introduced but I guess if you don't know what an SMS message is - its
> the place to go.
>
> So has ANYONE out there found a better deal - a provider that
> understands the problems deaf people have using phones - and more
> importantly can do it so that the most disadvantaged in our society
> are not penalised any longer for being disabled.

Virgin Mobile do several Text only package on their PAYG phones.
Range from £7.50/month for 100 texts to £24/month for 800 Texts.

They also do text and picture message bundles.

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/gener...les.shop.sm034

These are normally paid by direct debit, but are not contacts, so you can
cancel at any time. You(or friends) can also make and receive phone calls,
which are paid at the normal tariff rates.


--
Regards,
Chris.
(Remove Elvis's shoes to email me)

"DavidDB" <david.hewett@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1182908442.998126.82600@n2g2000hse.googlegrou ps.com...
>Are there any Mobile Phone Tariffs for Deaf Users?

I called Orange and they say that they don't have anything specific but I
would suggest that you contact the Orange Executive Office and discuss it
with them. I've been an Orange customer for over 10 years and I think that
the EO are great at helping with things like this. They could perhaps sell
you a new contract at £35 per month with unlimited texts and then give you a
goodwill credit to cover the cost of the unused minutes. Hope that helps.

what about the t-mobile flex t tariffs? They give you an (arbitary) money
vaue and it is up to you
whether you use it got texts calls or any combination

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:38:38 GMT, "DMac" <a77w@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>what about the t-mobile flex t tariffs? They give you an (arbitary) money
>vaue and it is up to you
>whether you use it got texts calls or any combination
>

Could the Op try a cashback deal and ,all being well,would get their
money back