Bigger country = more customers (should)= cheaper rates
Deals in Europe are unbelievably cheap compared to the US
what's next? 1TB starting at $1,000?
The cost of supporting a national network in a country as big and as populated as the USA is huge.
The cost of supporting a national network in a country as big and as populated as the USA is huge.
There's no capitalism at work here.
It's a heavily regulated and restricted market, controlled by the government. State regulation of industry is the same thing as kings of yore, granting their favorite friends land and power. There's nothing capitalistic about the communications industry, if that were the case, options that were too expensive would fail to win money from consumers' wallets.
When the market is unfairly restricted and favors are granted by the government, prices can skyrocket without natural limits like those imposed by demand. The price you're seeing is the price paid to your political masters for babysitting, who call it 'protecting consumers'.
I don't know where you live but I'm going to go on a limb and say I'm pretty sure there are things in your country that are a lot more expensive than in the U.S. I've traveled the world, and cars, electronics, & food are a lot less expensive in the U.S., even CA and NY! than almost anywhere else on earth - for the same item (not that those things are inexpensive here either).
Also the tax burden for most European countries is about 20% higher than in the U.S., so there is that.
So enjoy your cheap data rate because you are likely way overpaying for everything else.
I happily pay high taxes for the social security our country has, plus I love the regulations that we have that prevent this absurd kind of pricing.
Right, regulation that prevents market pricing on data, but allows absurd pricing on basic food and clothes. Sounds like a winner to me. (Not to mention you have no idea if you are buying steak if its from a cow or a horse).
Also, still no idea where you are from, but you have given a hint it's not Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, or Croatia.
I wonder how many government groups are forking out on this rip off scam, milk em dry.
Why are data plans so expensive in the US?
Part of the problem is we still have a lot of sparsely populated areas in the country. Carriers are expected to cover everywhere, but many cell cites actually result in lost revenue, so they have to make it up in the rates they charge.
Meanwhile in Finland:
- Our population density is less than half of the US
- The biggest cell operator has about 90% land coverage - with a 3G data network. 2G/voice is practically 100% coverage everywhere.
- And it costs about $20 for data plans of 20GB/month, $30 for 50GB/month (including 4G LTE speeds).
We even have cheaper operators with $10/month unlimited data plans at 3G speeds, but their networks don't extend to the most rural areas.
I'm amazed you Yanks stand for this sort of thing. It's not unusual for us humble, buck-toothed Brits to get unlimited data, unlimited texts and unlimited talktime for an average of £35-40 a month (about $60). And that's with paying about £60 upfront for the iPhone 5, so it's not exactly like you're paying through the nose.
I appreciate all carriers are thieving immoral bastards, but you guys seem to have it a lot worse than we do. Is there something I'm missing, or do we have it just as bad?![]()
Area of Finland: 340,000 km^2
Area of US: 9,800,000 km^2
It's not just the population density, it's the overall land mass that needs to be covered by cell towers.
but you guys seem to have it a lot worse than we do. Is there something I'm missing, or do we have it just as bad?![]()
Come on, these are really plans for small business owners, not individual customers.
If I had a small business, I think this would be a great option actually. Then again, I actually did the math here rather than just complain about it.
If you did 25 individual lines, that's $100/month ($70 for unlimited voice & text + 30 for the 3GB plan). That's $2500 per month. You are forced to do the 3GB plan because almost everyone will do more than 300MB and so you either have overages or excess.
The 50GB plan is $500 plus $30/line. If you have 25 lines (the max), it's $1250/month. That's 2GB average per employee. Some will use less, some more. Even if you did have massive overages, you could go over by 83 GB (@ 15/GB) and still come out cheaper.
Even at the low end it's pretty reasonable. 15 devices * $30 = $450 + 300 = 750/15 devices = $50/month per device for unlimited talk & text + 2GB of data.
The cost of supporting a national network in a country as big and as populated as the USA is huge.