The problem with staying the middle of nowhere: an $85,000 phone bill!

A couple of months ago, my cell phone bill came to $150. Ouch. Turns out I don’t have a very good long distance plan, so texting and leaving tipsy messages for my friends from my vacation was a little pricey. Still, I guess I can’t really complain — a 22-year-old man working in the oil fields in Northern Alberta received a shockingly high cell phone bill — for $85,000! Good grief! That’s a house, not a phone bill. I’m surprised that phone bills even get that high.

Apparently, Piotr Staniaszek thought that he could use his cell phone as a modem for his computer and, since he was holed up in a shack in the middle of nowhere by himself, spent his time surfing the net and downloading movies.

Bell Canada, his provider, has agreed to reduce to the charges to $3,400. Still. That’s pretty steep.

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