Orange spoils cross-channel ferry fun
We don’t get out much at Tech Digest, but when we do we sure know how to have a good time.
An old favourite of ours used to be playing mobile phone Russian Roulette on cross-channel ferries. The game involves everyone placing their mobis on a table and watching to see which network on which phone is the last to disappear. The unlucky owner of that handset is then dispatched the bar to get the drinks in. Believe us Euro 2004 penalty shoot-outs can’t touch it for nail-biting tension, honest.
Anyway trust Orange to spoil our fun. As from now its customers on customers on cross-channel ferries can make voice calls and use GPRS data services all the way over to France. The phone company is rolling out the service exclusively on SeaFrance’s range of ships which operate on the Dover to Calais route.
There is a bit of a downside though. Orange has split the channel in two with Orange UK subscribers charged standard UK call rates until the vessel reaches the mid-way point between the two countries. Thereafter they are transferred to Orange France and pay pricier international roaming tariffs to make and receive calls.
