"My monthly iPhone bill: $5,086.66"

 
On July 9th, I noted the bizarre 'fine print' required by AT&T for the iPhone. On August 4th, the first reports of the inevitable horror stories arrived: the $3,000 monthly iPhone bill, for instance.

Adam Aronson's got a story to top 'em all. That screaming you hear in the distance is this poor jamoke.

I am typing this from the floor right now... I am in complete shock... I finally got my first online bill from AT&T yesterday and it came to $5,086.66!! Have I gone insane? Did they append that $6.66 at the end of the bill just to screw with me? After a near heart attack I called AT&T to find out what had happened.... Well as you may have guessed by now these are all charges for using the edge network while roaming internationally (in England). No phone calls mind you just data. According to AT&T that's at a rate of $2cents per K! WTF? Why don't you rape me and my whole family while you're at it? From all you can use for $20 bucks a month to $2cents per K?! $20 per web-page? Are you INSANE? That's like charging you $2cents per molecule of gas for you car! I was taken aback that I was charged at all for this, I mean doesn't my plan include all you can use data? And don't you have to call the cell company to activate overseas usage in advance? ...Well that's what I had thought (it's how all my previous carriers handled overseas roaming) but apparently 4 months ago AT&T quietly changed their policy...

This sort of vicious, predatory, and monopolistic behavior is precisely why the FCC should have forced wholesaling requirements on the winner of the 700MHz spectrum to ensure vigorous competition. Oh, that's right. I forgot that Kevin Martin has his own agenda, which coincidentally seems to align with that of the telcos.