Yes, America, we are really paying too much for our data plans.

[Plx32]

In France, my current plan is 25$/month with :

- Unlimited calls
- Unlimited texts (within EU) and MMS
- 3 GB data + tethering at DC-HSDPA speed (42 Mbits)

If I wanted my iPhone subsidized, that plan would have cost 60$/month instead of 25$.

 

[Daveoc64]

I don't think our European friends understand just how big the US market is. And our population density is much much lower.

Image

I understand that entirely, but does it justify having to pay twice as much?

It's not like ATT/Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile have the same number of a customers as a European carrier does. There are far more, but they're much more spread out.

Building out the network is only expensive if you don't get a return on it. I don't think that's the case in the US.

Why don't the regional carriers charge significantly less?

 

[shenan1982]

They charge what they charge in America, not because of the size of the country nor population density, but because people will pay it. They know so many people think being able to check FaceBook on their cell phone is a necessity in life, even if it's alongside the fact that they're getting food stamps and other government assistance. I read somewhere that a college student did a poll, and 85% of college students claiming to be "broke college students eating ramen" had a smartphone. The report went further to say that two thirds of those receiving some sort of government assistance have a smartphone. Excuse me for giving the perception of being a snob, but that's fu#%d up.

In a country where people feel entitled to everything, carriers know that people will pay, and when you have a product that people will pay for, you can sacrifice quality and raise prices. Look at the iPhone 5. People were willing to buy it when they didn't even know what the features of the new model were, lol. It's consumerism at its finest, ehh?

 

[dchao]

I don't think our European friends understand just how big the US market is. And our population density is much much lower.

Image

LOL.

Yep, the infrastructure deployed by some of the big American corporations is incredible. Like the three national carriers, one rate plan, you can use it in any of the fifty States just like you are dialing from your home, no roaming charge, no long distance charge.

Now tell me one European carrier, who can sell me a contract for a flat monthly fee (less than US$50) that will allow to me to use my SIM all over Europe, and make calls to other European countries for free

If you tell me you'll never need to travel and all of your friends live in the same town as you, then there are the regional carriers in the US who can provide really cheap rate plans too. They are the equivalent to some of the "national" carriers in certain European countries.

----------

They charge what they charge in America, not because of the size of the country nor population density, but because people will pay it.

Yep, they are not State owned. They are there to make profit and report back to their shareholders. No doubt, the cost of LTE will come down in due course, driven down by market forces. If a US company doesn't perform, the CEO will step down, but not in Europe, in Europe all about who your buddies are in the government.

 

[HowardSmith]

sadly, american telecom is a monopoly.

I guess it would be better if the government would take it over and let everyone have it as an "entitlement"

You have choices so it is NOT a monopoly. You can go to a trackphone for less than $20 per month!

 

[bad03xtreme]

In other breaking news a bear ***** in the woods.

 

[lazard]

Continental US 3.79M sq mi
EU 1.67M sq mi

/thread

 

[Giuly]

In the EU, there are offerings such as 5GB of data for $25, but they are prepaid and you can't buy additional traffic. (and also limited to 7.2-14.4MBit/s, or in other words the EUian equivalent to Sprint, where people complain that it's too slow)

Comparable to Verizon would be Vodafone - the new Vodafone RED plan for $100/mo. is with 3GB data included and unlimited voice. Makes your AT&T plan look like a bargain?

There are offerings such as 30GB of (LTE) data for $110/mo, but they are data only.

You can however have plans with 2GB included, which can be reset to zero for $7.50, which would calc out to $3.75/GB. Pretty cheap, right? (unless you think in terms that this what it costs you to watch two episodes of comedians in cars getting coffee or whatever you're fancying).

And don't forget that you have unlimited 4G on T-Mobile and Sprint - there is no such offering in the whole EU.

I call a little BS on this, the US landscape seems more expensive, but in reality, it isn't.

 

[dchao]

I call a little BS on this, the US landscape seems more expensive, but in reality, it isn't.

Yep, AT&T and Verizon's LTE plans are a flat rate shared plan that you can use across the 50 states, unlimited voice, for $80. It's expensive for 4G data, but not bad for voice, it can replace your landline as well, which will save you even more money. LTE is still very new in the States, of course, you will have to pay a premium for that. Europe and rest of the world had 3.5G for a while already, so there is no more premium.

 

[Dwalls90]

Depends on where you are. In NYC and various college towns, my AT&T iPhone is damn near unusable. Speeds less than 100kbps with pings as high as 4-500. Essentially edge speeds over HSPA. I don't know how much of that is spectrum crunch vs poor backhaul though

That's no spectrum crunch. That's lack of back haul and tower support.

Go to rootmetrics.com

Verizon has more customers and far better service than att in NYC, and note this was before they bought more spectrum. It's laziness and a poorly run network on atts behalf, not a lack of spectrum.

 

[Leonard1818]

sadly, american telecom is a monopoly.

but how many people would complain if the government stepped in? ha!

 

[andross77]

I pay $0.50 per gigabyte used on Verizon. Oooops! Guess I'm better than all Europeans...or maybe I just knew the value of unlimited data plans and being able to kick Comcast to the curb. Yipeee!

 

[dchao]

That's no spectrum crunch. That's lack of back haul and tower support.

Go to rootmetrics.com

Verizon has more customers and far better service than att in NYC, and note this was before they bought more spectrum. It's laziness and a poorly run network on atts behalf, not a lack of spectrum.

CDMA (Verizon) is always far more efficient than GSM (AT&T) in the use of allotted frequency band. That's why 4G is moving towards the CDMA-based technology (Code Division instead of Time Division).

 

[Dwalls90]

Yep, AT&T and Verizon's LTE plans are a flat rate shared plan that you can use across the 50 states, unlimited voice, for $80. It's expensive for 4G data, but not bad for voice, it can replace your landline as well, which will save you even more money. LTE is still very new in the States, of course, you will have to pay a premium for that. Europe and rest of the world had 3.5G for a while already, so there is no more premium.

Huh?

Shared data with the minimum data allotment (1Gb) is $90. Not to mention you'll need at least 2Gb likely, so $100.

 

[BFizzzle]

yes its at least four inches larger on my map.

if this was twitter i woulda retweeted your comments on this thread.

 

[token787]

Now, I'm thinking more of cancelling my Verizon contract.

 

[BFizzzle]

In the EU, there are offerings such as 5GB of data for $25, but they are prepaid and you can't buy additional traffic. (and also limited to 7.2-14.4MBit/s, or in other words the EUian equivalent to Sprint, where people complain that it's too slow)

Comparable to Verizon would be Vodafone - the new Vodafone RED plan for $100/mo. is with 3GB data included and unlimited voice. Makes your AT&T plan look like a bargain?

There are offerings such as 30GB of (LTE) data for $110/mo, but they are data only.

You can however have plans with 2GB included, which can be reset to zero for $7.50, which would calc out to $3.75/GB. Pretty cheap, right? (unless you think in terms that this what it costs you to watch two episodes of comedians in cars getting coffee or whatever you're fancying).

And don't forget that you have unlimited 4G in T-Mobile and Sprint - there is no such offering in the whole EU.

I call a little BS on this, the US landscape seems more expensive, but in reality, it isn't.

and also limited to 7.2-14.4MBit/s, or in other words the EUian equivalent to Sprint, where people complain that it's too slow

you're kidding right? sprints is about .5 mbit/s. thats "fiber optic" compared to sprint

 

[dchao]

Huh?

Shared data with the minimum data allotment (1Gb) is $90. Not to mention you'll need at least 2Gb likely, so $100.

$100 includes unlimited voice, which I'll put a $60-$70 value on it. I agree LTE is not cheap right now, but the price will come down when it becomes more popular.

 

[Mseek]

In Sweden:

-Unlimited calls
-Unlimited texts
-Unlimited internet!

For 60 dollar / month.

 

[Giuly]

you're kidding right? sprints is about .5 mbit/s. thats "fiber optic" compared to sprint

 

[Dwalls90]

$100 includes unlimited voice, which I'll put a $60-$70 value on it. I agree LTE is not cheap right now, but the price will come down when it becomes more popular.

No, the value put on it is the value it costs the consumer, hence, "cost".

LTE is the same price as other data plans. You are a fool if you think it'll become cheaper in the future.

 

[gentlefury]

but how many people would complain if the government stepped in? ha!

The Gov already did step in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System

In 1984 AT&T was broken up for being a monopoly and preventing competition and growth in this country.

It needs to happen again.

 

[Italianblend]

Sure, the Europeans get a better deal with wireless data and plans, but we get ice in our glasses & free refills!

Haha Yes! And much more air conditioning.

 

[Cougarcat]

I don't think our European friends understand just how big the US market is. And our population density is much much lower.

Image

Finland's population density is roughly half the US, yet they still manage to have reasonable plans.

 

[acatch90]

Continental US 3.79M sq mi
EU 1.67M sq mi

/thread

That's kind of a bad example. Each carrier roams when it leaves a country. Your not going to get cheap rates if you get a plan to use across Europe.

This would be a better comparison:
Continental US 3.79M sq mi
France 260K sq mi
Spain 195K sq mi
UK 94K sq mi