Forced phone bundle

Carmen Vassallo from Gżira writes: 

Epic is forcing top up customers to activate the Traveller Lite bundle when abroad, costing 99c per day, whether they use it or not.

When I am in the UK I only use Wi-Fi and I have a UK mobile SIM card on a separate phone. I do not need and I do not want Epic’s Traveller Lite 99c (per day) bundles to be automatically activated on my Malta phone.

I come to Malta for two weeks every four or five weeks and I buy the Value Top-up pack for 28 days, half of which, by the way, I now lose when I go back to the UK. Then, while in the UK, I just use some Epic SMS messages. I never use Epic data or calls.

Traveller Lite should be an optional bundle. File photo: Shutterstock.com

However, as from May 5, anything can trigger the automatic Traveller Lite when in the UK, even if I am not using anything myself. So that is a charge of 99c that expires at midnight no matter what time it was automatically activated. This can happen every day, including when someone calls me but I decline the call. Or if I receive an SMS. Unsolicited calls (spam etc., even if declined) and received SMS messages also trigger the 99c charge.

This is not fair as it is out of our control.

Traveller Lite should be an optional bundle. They advised me to either leave the phone on aeroplane mode or remove the SIM card so I would not get charged. But that is not fair because, although I do not need Epic’s mobile data or calls while in the UK, I need the SMS service. I have a 90-year-old mother in a care home in Malta. She is deaf and she can only communicate with me via SMS.

The SMS should be kept separate from data when roaming. Its cost can just come from the normal account credit balance.

I am sure I am not the only customer who finds this unacceptable.

What Epic have done in effect is to make sure they get a minimum of 99c practically daily from anyone holding a top-up account who is abroad, whether they want Traveller Lite or not.

The relief of suffering

Peter Dingli of San Diego, California writes:

I appreciate Phyllis Sammut Smith’s heartfelt letter (May 14) and her emphasis on the value of palliative care and human presence at the end of life. These are indeed vital parts of a compassionate society. However, I would like to offer a different perspective in support of assisted dying – one grounded in both ethical reasoning and respect for individual conscience.

In a society like ours, shaped by deep religious tradition, life is rightly seen as a gift. Yet, many religious thinkers, including some Christian ethicists, have also acknowledged the moral importance of free will, personal dignity and the relief of suffering. The question we face is not about choosing death over life but about how we respond to suffering when medicine can no longer heal and pain becomes unbearable.

From a philosophical point of view, assisted dying can be understood as an expression of autonomy – the right of a rational individual to make deeply personal decisions about their own body and existence. Respecting this autonomy, especially in the face of terminal illness, is not a rejection of life’s value but an affirmation of human dignity. It recognises that people should not be forced to endure prolonged agony when they calmly and consciously choose to bring their life to a gentle end.

Assisted dying does not diminish the importance of love care, and presence. It can exist alongside palliative care, as an option for those for whom even the best care cannot relieve suffering. In such cases, helping a person die peacefully may itself be the final act of compassion.