Mobile devices Toolkit
Story: Transport for London to trial 'Oyster' phone
Corruption and a scam..
This scheme has come about too soon after many Londoners were conned into getting "Credit Cards" to use for traveling. The poorest people can't get the cheapest fares and are subsidising the wealthy travellers through excessive "cash" fares. A well off traveller pays only £3 per day for unlimited travel within Zones 1 and 2 and the poorest workers have to pay £2 for a single bus journey or £3.50 for a return bus journey. Getting to and from work is a nightmare for the poorest of workers and yet for less money the wealthier ones travel in less than 1/2 the time on the Underground. So what now? We have the Credit Card but will need the mobile phone for even cheaper fares. Bus fares (cash) will increase further so the poorest can give extra subsidies to the wealthiest of travellers. The majority of the poorest of workers can't get a credit card or a mobile phone contract and therefore have to pay daily cash fares. Can Red Ken take some of the back pocket bungs he receives and give some back to the poorest ones? Can O2 charge 20% more for the phones and then provide subsidised ( or free ) phones to the lowest wage earners? To prove the point, just take a walk around Canary Wharf or the City and see the mobiles that are being used (latest and most expensive models) and then walk around Elephant and Castle, Kings Cross etc. and see what phones are being used. You will see why Tesco, Sainsbury's etc. are making loads of profit from selling prehistoric £30 Nokia phones. These Oyster Phones are an unnecessary technological advancement, considering that we have been waiting for over 15 years for LU to get mobile phone connections throughout the Underground network. I would like to see every Londoner boycott this scam and stop the large corporations from profiteering through giving Red Ken a bulging back pocket and from bribing other senior civil servants to get these lucrative contracts. These scams are also illegal as they breach the "Competitions Acts" and also they breach the regulations regarding "compulsary tendering". Did Red Ken and his cronies invite tenders from any credit card company? NO! Did he invite tenders from T-Mobile, Virgin, Vodaphone, Sony Erikson etc. etc.? NO! He was paid to give Nokia and O2 the contracts and that is strictly "illegal" LU (TfL) should be trying to get mobile signals into the tunnels for use by all networks. That would be a leap forward in technology. As a final point, LU staff should be concerned as LU are determined to remove all cash fares on the Underground and therefore, if they can be successful, hundreds of staff will lose their jobs as there will not be needed to sell tickets.
PS - What next? Oyster Pushchairs for mothers with babies, scan your walking stick, what about an Oyster watch? I'd better not put too much as crazy, mad Ken Livingston might just adopt some of these ideas LOL
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