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AT&T Announces Massive 30-50GB Mobile Shared Data Plans

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jont-fu

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2008
152
56
TC25 said:
Something people across the pond almost always ignore when they piously comment on US carriers. Most European countries are the size of US states.
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I still don't get why providing a cellular service in a larger scale would be more expensive, as long as the population density is the same.

Most European countries have more population per square mile than the US. So it's cheaper to provide a service, as they have less land area to cover with towers, for the same number of subscribers.

But not all European countries are densely populated; my example was Finland, which is the opposite. Our land area is two average US states, but with the population of only one. Still we have great cellular service with a low price.

I'm not bragging about this, just wondering why it would be so expensive to run a service in the US. Some people here said that it's due to regulation, but we have heavy regulation in Finland also.
 
Michael Goff

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,421
marco114 said:
Over-regulation. It drives the cost up, and reduces competition so it's impossible for new people to enter the market.
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...

Over-regulation drives costs up and reduces competition?

Wha?

I... I don't even think I can wrap my head around that horrible lack of logic.
 
T

TC25

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2011
2,201
0
jont-fu said:
But not all European countries are densely populated; my example was Finland, which is the opposite. Our land area is two average US states, but with the population of only one. Still we have great cellular service with a low price.
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Absent govt subsidization, I am hard pressed to understand how this is possible.

Low population density = fewer customers = lower revenue = higher price/customer to cover infrastructure installation and maintenance costs.
 
T

TC25

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2011
2,201
0
zin said:
Are you going to allow these corporations to rip you off and just take it? You should band together and boycott AT&T and others. Surely you could file a class-action suit through the Department of Justice because this is blatantly profiteering in a cartel with other major networks through the use of monopoly power.
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Americans vote with their wallets instead of running to the government for help like the Brits do.

Zaren said:
AT&T just doesn't get it.
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Then they wont sell any of these plans. Get it? That's how the free market works.
 
APlotdevice

APlotdevice

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2011
3,145
3,861
TC25 said:
Americans vote with their wallets instead of running to the government for help like the Brits do.
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And we get screwed over as a result. With carriers like AT&T and Verizon collaborating to avoid real competition with each other.
 
Z

zin

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2010
491
6,617
United Kingdom
TC25 said:
Americans vote with their wallets instead of running to the government for help like the Brits do.
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Doesn't appear that way. AT&T is hated by millions of its customers, most people on this forum hate them from what I can gather. Through your logic AT&T would've lowered prices/invested in service quality by now. Instead they continue to hit their customers with price rises and simply put a bad deal.

What appears to be the case is that Americans merely sit back and take it, and your "running to the government for help" doesn't hold true for Britain as, as far as I'm aware, there is no need for us to do so. I'm also pretty sure AT&T's monopoly position wouldn't be allowed at all in the UK.

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TC25 said:
Of course you have proof of this illegal activity? :rolleyes:
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If you seriously can't put 2 and 2 together and conclude that AT&T and Verizon are profiteering together then perhaps this is what's wrong with the American cellular market. Those two carriers practically control the entire market.
 
T

TC25

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2011
2,201
0
zin said:
What appears to be the case is that Americans merely sit back and take it, and your "running to the government for help" doesn't hold true for Britain as, as far as I'm aware, there is no need for us to do so. I'm also pretty sure AT&T's monopoly position wouldn't be allowed at all in the UK.
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We have not sat back and taken it since we got our independence and bailed you out in WWII. We also have not abdicated all our freedom to a nanny state....yet. All monopolies are bad except when it's a govt monopoly, eh?


zin said:
If you seriously can't put 2 and 2 together and conclude that AT&T and Verizon are profiteering together then perhaps this is what's wrong with the American cellular market. Those two carriers practically control the entire market.
Click to expand...

Who needs proof when we have someone from the UK with all the proof. Convict 'em now just based on your wisdom.
 
Z

zin

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2010
491
6,617
United Kingdom
TC25 said:
We have not sat back and taken it since we got our independence and bailed you out in WWII. We also have not abdicated all our freedom to a nanny state....yet. All monopolies are bad except when it's a govt monopoly, eh?
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Historically inaccurate and irrelevant to our discussion. It's a shame you have to bring in your distaste for my country into our discussion on the US cellular market. Have a nice day.
 
T

TC25

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2011
2,201
0
zin said:
Historically inaccurate...
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No, historically accurate. No US in WWII, you'd be speaking German today.

zin said:
It's a shame you have to bring in your distaste for my country into our discussion on the US cellular market.
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But you can slam the US with your snarky comments about Americans and that's supposed to be OK? Not.
 
WhiteIphone5

WhiteIphone5

macrumors 65816
May 27, 2011
1,182
2
Lima, Peru
TC25 said:
Wow, you tell 'em! I am sure they will be totally cowed by an anonymous poster on MR and completely redesign their plans designed for business.
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um its pretty obvious that they're not going to read this comment. I'm just expressing what I have to say about the subject of the thread. So hop off my nuts
 
D

dasmb

macrumors 6502
Jul 12, 2007
376
392
nick_elt said:
Bigger country = more customers (should)= cheaper rates

Deals in Europe are unbelievably cheap compared to the US
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It's not the people, it's the cost to get to them. We've got about 6 times the population of the UK in an area that's 50 times larger. To build a network that "covers" this entire space (and none of them cover all of it -- if you're in the midwest you'll basically have coverage near a major highway and that's it) means lots of hardware, higher wattage antennas, more fiber point to point, etc.

Lower population density = more hardware per consumer to provide a given level of service = higher rates.

Also, since it costs more to build a network, we have much less competition between national network providers.

There are some very cheap regional carriers, and some deals if you don't mind taking a second tier network like T-Mobile.

The same is true but to the next degree in Canada. And as a result, they pay a LOT.
 
L

llarson

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2007
91
0
Regulate data by device

I have 3 iPhones and 2 iPads on a 15 gig account and for kicks I let my 7 year old son use his iPad on the school bus. His ride is an hour each way so he has about ten hours of usage while on the bus. At home he is on WiFi.

In two weeks he had used 10 gigs of data downloading and watching YouTube videos on the games he likes to play.

I have looked but other than TURNING OFF a device on the shared plan there doesn't seem to be a way of regulating the data a device can use on a daily or weekly basis.

Anyone know of a theif party app?!
 
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egoistaxx9

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2013
289
0
good offer, bad price. although i was looking for a shared mobile data plan but this one is too expensive.
 
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