2020-08-25
About
I’m not trying to write an essay on open borders, their advantages and disadvantages, or the implementation through policy. Rather here I will list out some of the things which are missing in a open borders world which could make it better for everyone. This is my opinion, and to be clear, I believe in open borders and ideally visa-free travel.
I have lived now in four countries, Germany (my place of birth), Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands. Each of these places has many things in common, but often there are still substle differences.
Internet and Mobile Telephony
Internet
| Country | Provider | Cost | Easy of Acquiring | Service | Duration | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | VDSL Flat Telekom | 65 Eur p/m | B | Includes landline phone, flatrate on all calls | 10+ years | very good |
| UK | VDSL Flat Sky | 39 GBP p/m | A | Includes landline | 1 year | Very good |
| UK | Cable Flat Virgin Media | 45 GBP p/m | B | Special student package | 1 year | very good, but suffered from intermittent slowdowns at peak times |
| UK | Cable Flat Virgin Media | 75 GBP p/m | C | Special business package with static IPs | 2-3 years | good, the hardware they uses (from Netgear) was aweful! Eventually I convinced them to give me a modem and I provided my own router, then things improved. Still suffered from intermittent slowdowns, and they did tons of traffic shaping. Eventually piped everything through VPN/Tor to avoid that nonsense. |
| DE | VDSL Flat Telekom | 75 Eur p/m | B | Special business package with static IPs | 1 year | good, though its far from symmetric (100/40) |
| NL | FTTH Flat KPN | included in rent | A | No sure about package details, but the connection is the first one which is symmetric (100/100)! | 1 year | very good |
Mobile
Getting a mobile contract in some countries can be tricky. In Germany I have never had a problem with this, though if you don’t have a National ID card this might be different. In the UK I was shocked to find that most high-street mobile telephone provides will not give out a SIM card without a credit check. As a foreigner and student, I did not have any credit history, and so failed to get a SIM contract at either Telekom (EE now), Vodafone, or O2. Finally when to Three Mobile, and the manager (yes the boss) specially approved it. To be clear, I wanted a contract, not a PAYG as for me the cost in a monthly subscription amortizes over time given that I didn’t have to think of loading up my account every month, plus there was no concern about funding problems for data usage and SMS. The Netherlands was easy, even then Germany, I was never asked for an ID for instance.
| Country | Provider | Cost | Easy of Acquiring | Services | Duration | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | PAYG SIM Telekom | 10 Eur p/m | A | Basic package, no data, no MMS included. | 1-2 years | Fine, basically did not use my phone often |
| DE | Contract SIM Telekom | 19,99 Eur p/m | A | Teenage-target package with unlimited SMS and free minutes within Telekom network (no flat on landlines), Data was 1G | 3 years | Fine |
| UK | Contract SIM Three | 10 GBP p/m | D | Basic package, with free data upgrade to 3G data (and tethering included!), 100 free minutes, 350 free SMS. | 5 years | Very good, as the years went by though Three would call me and try to make me give up this contract, as they now charged separately for tethering. |
| DE | Contract SIM Telekom | 49,99 Eur p/m | A | Business packages, as part of my free-lance work. 10GB data, unlimited calling in Germany, reduced calling in EU, unlimited SMS in EU. | Present | Very good, maybe me stop using VOIP service for cross border telephoning. |
| NL | PAYG SIM Vodafone | 5 Eur p/m | A | Basic package, nothing special, no data. | Present | Fine |