Is something you negotiate with your cell company. In the USA, because people can negotiate the cost of incoming calls with their cell company, the cost is vastly lower. There are some plans that have incoming calls be free (to both parties.) Almost all plans sold today include all weekend and evening minutes (incoming and outgoing) free.

There have been some plans that give you the first minute of incoming calls free, so you can hang up if you aren’t inclined to talk and pay airtime.

However, few care about this because most people have a plan where minutes (incoming and outgoing) come in a big bundle which they rarely exceed. In the bundles you pay something like another $10 for 400 more minutes (TMobile) That’s 2.5 cents/minute. Sprint charges 5 cents per minute for going over your bundle, which is the fairest.

Do you understand now what competition in price does? The “free” minutes on Euro cell phones are costing the caller 20 to 25 cents per minute, often more. I guess if you want your callers to hate calling you that’s a good idea.

Now as it turns out you can try to play the opposite rules in both places. In theory, in the USA, you could get a 900 number charging 25 cents/minute and use that as your cell number, and the money you got would more than pay for your airtime. How many people would call you? Close to zero, because of the way people think.

In Europe, you could buy a landline number and forward it to your mobile, and you would pay the 25 cent/minute cost. Nobody wants to do that either, do they?

I’m surprised there is even debate on this any more.