WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.520 You know what really boils my peanuts? I can't take a trip anywhere without being 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:11.040 charged where the sun don't shine with roaming fees. Even though calling home 00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:14.960 or sending a text is an incredibly trivial matter from a technical 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.600 perspective. I mean, I can hop on Facebook Messenger right now and have a 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:24.160 voice conversation with my homeboy in Italy for absolutely no additional 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:26.200 charge, zero. But, if I flew to Rome and 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:29.520 tried to use my data connection, I'd get a bill that might make my mortgage 00:00:27.880 --> 00:00:33.560 payment look like chump change. Seriously, years ago a guy traveling to 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:37.720 Mexico on business got a bill of over 275 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:43.520 thousand dollars just for streaming a hockey game. What possible reason could 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:45.640 your carrier have for charging so much? 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:49.360 Okay, so get this. Even though the bill you get might have the name of your home 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:53.560 wireless carrier on it, the responsibility for this kind of price 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:57.800 gouging ultimately lies with whatever foreign carrier owns the network that 00:00:56.080 --> 00:01:01.440 you were using. And it used to be the case that the logistics of providing 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:05.320 roaming service were a little more difficult for mobile carriers. During 00:01:03.440 --> 00:01:09.600 the earlier part of the 2000s, it was difficult for them to track just how 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:15.120 many minutes or how much data was being used as communication between networks 00:01:12.520 --> 00:01:19.480 wasn't very good. So, these logistical issues made it a lot more tempting for 00:01:17.440 --> 00:01:24.040 mobile carriers to try and recoup any losses by jacking up prices. But these 00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:28.400 days, improvements in technology have made it such that it's really easy for 00:01:26.360 --> 00:01:31.960 mobile networks in Australia to talk to one in the US for example when someone 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:36.960 travels between the two countries. So, why are we still paying so much? 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:41.440 Part of the issue is the way deals are done between providers from different 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:45.240 countries. You see, if you use a major carrier in your home country, they 00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:49.240 probably have dozens or even hundreds of contracts in place with foreign 00:01:47.320 --> 00:01:53.720 providers. These are all negotiated individually and although it doesn't 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:57.880 cost very much more to connect a call across the world than it does in the 00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:02.000 same city, foreign carriers have no incentive to charge reasonable prices to 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:06.200 folks who are roaming. And the home carrier doesn't want to make it super 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:09.880 cheap to roam on their own networks as a foreign carrier could then swoop in and 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:13.600 undercut them, potentially siphoning off local customers. For example, if a US 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:18.320 carrier was able to offer extremely cheap roaming across the border in 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.720 Canada, a Canadian user might just buy a 00:02:18.320 --> 00:02:25.560 US cell service and permanently roam in Canada on a Canadian company's cell 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:30.400 towers. Making matters worse, many countries only have a very small handful 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.080 of major carriers servicing them. Think about how the US mobile market is 00:02:32.320 --> 00:02:38.960 essentially a four-way dance between Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:44.120 This means that when a carrier picks an out-of-country roaming partner, they may 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:48.480 only have one or two choices, making it difficult to negotiate a good deal for 00:02:45.920 --> 00:02:52.200 the home country's customers. And unlike at home where you can pick between at 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:56.120 least two or three providers, you're just going to automatically connect to 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.960 whoever the foreign partner network is when your plane lands abroad. So, 00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:04.360 there's no consumer choice when you're roaming overseas. The result is that 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:08.720 your home carrier gets charged a huge amount for access to the foreign network 00:03:06.880 --> 00:03:13.680 even though the actual cost that the foreign carrier has to bear isn't very 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:18.360 high. And of course, that gets passed on to us, the hapless 00:03:16.160 --> 00:03:23.360 consumers. And because carriers view international roaming as a luxury that's 00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:27.360 more often used by business customers who will just have their company foot 00:03:24.880 --> 00:03:32.840 the bill, it's hard to see them cutting us a break anytime soon. Now, of course, 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:36.840 there are certain ways around this. If you have access to Wi-Fi where you're 00:03:34.320 --> 00:03:40.720 going, you could just make voice over IP calls over like WhatsApp or the 00:03:38.760 --> 00:03:44.840 aforementioned Facebook Messenger. Or you could offer buying a local or 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:49.360 traveler SIM card or even a cheap pay-as-you-go phone. Alternatively, many 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:53.640 major carriers offer temporary travel packages that will give you limited 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:57.920 access overseas at much more reasonable rates. And in all cases, you're trading 00:03:56.280 --> 00:04:02.560 in the convenience of having your phone simply work as soon as you get through 00:03:59.720 --> 00:04:06.600 customs for not having to pay a freaking kidney just to check Twitter. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:11.560 This video is brought to you by Brilliant, the site that helps you become better at math and science. 00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:14.960 Featuring courses with storytelling, code writing, and interactive 00:04:12.920 --> 00:04:18.040 challenges, you'll be sure to come away better at problem solving with 00:04:16.440 --> 00:04:22.600 Brilliant. 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