>No complaints about global businesses, just annoying when all the
>parts get hogged. Regarding the cost of cell-phones, as an example
>of economy of scale, aren't they almost giveaways from the service
>provider ? I haven't got and don't want one, but in every deal I can
>remember seeing, cost of the phone was immaterial / not mentioned.
>You see them advertised for next to nothing in the trades, bought a
>couple of $10 ones last year just for bits

In the UK they are being "given away" for GBP20-30 when you connect to a =
network. You buy the phone at your local supermarket with a prepaid card =
and off you go. The problem for the phone companies is the phone costs =
5-10 times what they sell it for, and they need to keep you connected =
and using the phone for about 5 years to recover the capital cost of the =
phone. Smart critters from other countries realize these cheap phones =
are cheaper than they can get them for, and purchase them to take away =
to some other country where they then sell the phone at a profit.

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