Bill shock
The kind of in-your-face exhibitionism so popular on social networking services is especially so during the summer months. Where's the fun in frolicking on the beach and drinking exotic cocktails if you can't post evidence of it on Facebook and Twitter to show your friends how much more fun you're having than them?
Such activity will probably reach new levels of intensity this summer, as more people than ever have smartphones with strong social networking integration, but some new research published by The Carphone Warehouse reveals the vast minority - six percent -of Brits are aware of the cost per MB of mobile data roaming, while four fifths of them plan to access the Internet from their mobile device while abroad.
The research, which was conducted by YouGov, questioned over 2,000 people. It showed that 81 percent of holiday-makers got a mobile phone bill after their holiday that was ‘up to' a hundred pounds higher than their standard monthly payment. However, 89 percent of those surveyed didn't check their data roaming charges before travelling.
Matt Stringer, UK MD from The Carphone Warehouse said: "We've seen a real increase in smartphone users over the past year," said Matt Stringer, CPW UK MD. "Roughly 85% of handsets sold with a postpay connection at The Carphone Warehouse in 2010-2011 were smartphones, with penetration in the rest of our other European markets increasing all the time.
"Data users should keep a look out for WiFi spots where they can connect to the internet without using the local 3G network. At The Carphone Warehouse we've pulled together a list of top tips which we hope people will find useful before going away this summer." For some reason the release didn't link to this list.
Roaming shock stories have become standard issue around this time of year, and last year the EU made a big noise about how much it was doing to protect innocent European punters from the unscrupulous mobile operators. We haven't heard about a repeat of such a crusade this year.
