You must have heard the phrase “We are in the communication age” many times.
Think about it: many of the people you watch on screen must have referred to this phrase and used it in sentences many times…
Yes, we are in the communication age, with our phones, internet, television, and so on…
And in our world, where technology is developing rapidly, the cost of accessing the tools of communication is FALLING just as rapidly…
But our country, where many things are the opposite, is doing all it can in this regard, too.
Especially when it comes to phone calls…
That is exactly why I am writing this article!
In the past week alone, I have spoken with many people who are bothered by this issue.
For some reason, they found me and told me about it.
Every Turkish Cypriot who crosses to the Greek Cypriot side or goes to any country in the world is stunned after making phone calls very cheaply!
You may not have gone or made calls, but you must have heard your friends say, “phone and internet are very cheap over there”…
But in our country, there is a downright ROBBERY when it comes to this!
We pay so much to make calls that those who especially need to use the phone pay a small fortune in monthly bills…
And our citizens who want to get this service cheaply come up with their own solutions.
A citizen who gets a SIM card from the Greek Cypriot side enters its coverage area in the north and enjoys the benefits of the communication age for ALMOST NOTHING…
In fact, a GSM company from the Greek Cypriot side, seeing the potential here, even set up an illegal cell tower in the heart of Nicosia…
To get to the heart of the matter:
There are two GSM companies in our country. One is the market leader, while the other had been virtually inactive for years; thankfully, it too has become active these days… Because the other GSM company had been running wild in this field for years, with no competition… Perhaps this renewed activity will create competition and put an end to this robbery in a country where communication is so cheap elsewhere in the world.
That is how things look when you assess the GSM companies from the outside; but there is another side to the coin. Our state has a very large share of the blame for prices being so high… Approximately 70% of every bill you pay goes to the state.
To sum it up using the terms they use in their advertisements: WE ARE WITHIN THE COVERAGE AREA OF ROBBERY FROM EVERY DIRECTION.
Until Friday, I hope…
Pay attention to your surroundings, keep them clean, and please be respectful in traffic!