Iceland is an extremely civilised country, its whaling policy notwithstanding. Reykjavík is the hub of that civilisation.
Unlike Amsterdam, Reykjavík has a mesh of random cafés and bookshops that offer free, open 802.11b/g WLAN access. The net effect is that one can have a stroll from Ausurstræti, across to Bankastræti and up Laugavegur, hopping from network to network as one goes.
Not only can one therefore pick up one’s e-mail on the go, but the wonders of VoIP mean that I can make a phone-call over the Internet for negligible cost. One only has to make use of this facility a few times before one becomes very used to it.
In Amsterdam, open networks are few and far between. Cafés tend to offer hotspot access from one or other of the various overpriced network operators, such as T-Mobile. No thanks. What a shame people aren’t more public-spirited back home.
Various mobile phone providers, such as KPN, offer an unlimited Internet access package these days, over GSM (GPRS) or UMTS (HSDPA). KPN’s offering is called Surf & Mail. For just €10 per month, one can access the Internet to pick up e-mail, browse the Web, etc. from anywhere in the country with network coverage.
What about VoIP? Aha, there’s a clause in the contract that explicitly forbids you from using KPN’s data network for conducting voice calls. KPN doesn’t want you using their data network to circumvent their voice network. What a cynical move. If their voice tariff was at all competitive, we wouldn’t care about using their data network to conduct VoIP calls.