Hullo? What... you want to give me a new phone if I change carriers... No thanks, I'm waiting for the Apple iPhone to be released... Call me back when you can sell me one... Hullo?? You there... Click.

Home > News and Views > Hullo? What... you want to give me a new phone if I change carriers... No thanks, I'm waiting for the Apple iPhone to be released... Call me back when you can sell me one... Hullo?? You there... Click.

Date Created: 04 Feb, 2007, 08:47 PM

For the last year and a half, I've had ADSL2+ for my internet service. My ISP, iinet, has been very aggressive in rolling out DSLAMs at various telephone exchanges and now sports one of the biggest very fast networks in Australia.

In order to get this fast DSL connection, I had to sign over my landline calls to iinet too, so now I get the one bill for calls and internet, and a separate account for my cellphone, which is with Optus. I've been off contract for years, and swore I would never go on one again, so as not to be locked into a rapidly ageing cellphone.

My last few phones have been recently superceded models I purchased cheaply on eBay and I've been happy with them, since they're bluetooth, sync with the Powerbook, and allow me to use Salling Clicker for Keynote presentations. They can also double up as modems if I get desperate and there's no wi-fi around.

For some time now, I've had my landline permanently diverting to my cellphone because I kept forgetting to put the divert on before leaving home. Now with a new phone system which shows Caller ID and other niceties, the divert is off, but not before a review of my billing informed me that over the last eighteen months, the divert feature has cost me over $500.

You see, when the caller rings the landline and hangs up before going to message bank on the cellphone, I'm charged because a connection is made. If they do leave a message or I answer the phone, I'm also charged at cellphone rates to receive the call.

Now one of the advantages (there has to be one) was the Caller ID was activated on the cellphone, and I made it a policy not to answer calls which did not show their ID. The diversion costs were amounts I was prepared to absorb to preserve my privacy. I had been receiving far too many interruptions from people and organisations wanting donations, real estate or financial advice giving, or calls from Indian caller centres wanting to give me a new phone if I changed my service.

In the days after I took off the diversion from the landline, I took 15 such calls when I ignored the "caller withheld" or "private" sign on the landline phone. A waste of time.

Australia, like the US, has laws governing unsolicited calls and one can ask the caller to remove one's name from their list, usually culled from credit cards and other services.

In the last few days, when these calls have come in, I've patiently listened to their message about the terrific new Nokia or LG phone I am to be given for swapping carriers, then politely say,

"Well, that's very nice, but I am waiting for the Apple iPhone to become available early next year. Please call back in 2008 if your carrier is the one who will get the exclusive rights to carry the iPhone. Thank you."

Now I don't know if that will put a stop to the calls - and my guess is I'm going to have to trot out the same line quite a few times before all the small telco outfits get the message about me - but gosh it feels good.

Why don't you give it a try and see what response you get?