You also have to factor in that we can travel the entire continental US without additional charge, while in Europe their are extra charges for roaming outside of a relatively small country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. H
Does that include any applicable taxes? In the UK you can now get unlimited calls and texts for £30 a month including tax, which equates to about $48. Why are mobile plans so expensive in the US?
In Europe there are companies that offer unlimited data plans but with reduction of speed when certain amount of data is a exeded a month.
For example, there's a low cost company in Spain that runs through Orange's antennas (France Telecom) called Simyo that offers unlimited data at 3.6 Mbps speeds for 25 euros a month and after 5 GB it reduced the speed to 128 Kbps. When a new month starts, the speed increases to 3.6 Mbps again. It seems logical that for cheap data plans there are some limitations and 5 GB on a cellphone line seems pretty generous, and after 5 GB of data it isn't unusable at 128 Kbps either and they don't charge anything extra.
Others offer limited data with faster access and a very low price, like Pepephone, they offer 300 MB for 7 euros a month at 21 Mbps and 7.2 Mbps speeds (depending on the coverage, 90% of Spain's population has access to 7.2 Mbps speeds and certain parts of Spain have access to 21 Mbps speeds although it's expected that during 2010 most 7.2 Mbps stations have been upgraded to 21 Mbps speeds). It's cheap, fast and enough data limit for cellphone use.
There are other fast and less restrictive data plans, but they're also more expensive. Both of these seem to be a good example of what AT&T and Verizon should do, sense they're cheap and speedy and none of them strain the cellphone network so much that it makes the network work as crappy as in the US (haven't had a dropped call in years, literally).
Am I the only one here who feels that Americans are being ripped off by their own companies?
I got my 3G iPhone the summer of 08 just before the economy went off a cliff. If I had known, I wouldn't have spent the money on a luxury item. Especially now that my wife and I have taken pay cuts to keep our jobs.
And being an AT&T customer has been a horriblel experience. As soon as my contract is up, it's back to a cheap Verizon phone and my iPod classic.
Shame too since the iPhone gets better every year. I love the new Mobile Me photo gallery app. Too bad it only works when I have a signal.
That's because the wireless companies don't really compete with each other. They have various ways to keep this from happening, the non-shared wireless spectrum, the non-shared lines and infrastructure, and worse, they have termination fees that are through the roof on top of incompatible phones. So I'd say they barely compete with all these obstacles from making the consumer easily switching from each other and that's why it's so expensive in the US.
In the end it all comes down to government regulation, or the lack thereof. Washington is funded by lobbyist (from telecom and other industries), so the consumer ends up getting screwed.
Verizon sees it will eventually be in the same situation as AT&T and is why they have said that providing unlimited data is not sustainable in the long term. Eventually they said they will charge for the amount of data you use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerseymac
And being an AT&T customer has been a horriblel experience. As soon as my contract is up, it's back to a cheap Verizon phone and my iPod classic.
Sweet! This should ricochet through the rest of the market. I expect voice plans in general to drop as internet access becomes more prominent. Eventually, when LTE becomes the standard and VoIP is the means by which voice is sent and received I expect unlimited voice to be included for free with your plan, but that is about a decade off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. H
Does that include any applicable taxes? In the UK you can now get unlimited calls and texts for £30 a month including tax, which equates to about $48. Why are mobile plans so expensive in the US?
Besides what Bartfat stated, note that the US mobile infrastructure is considerably larger than the UK. According to the CIA World Fact Book the UK is slightly smaller than Oregon.
I know you?re kidding, but just to be clear for some posters, countries like Russia and Canada maintain their populations is a small percentage of the country
I am not sure but it might have to do with the fact that in the US the telco subsidizes the cost of the phone while it sounds like in the EU many people buy their phones upfront. That said, our costs are still too high.
Let's look at Vodafone who just launched iPhone at its network.
600 minutes, unlimited text, 1GB of data, unlimited Wi-Fi, contract for 2 years, and iPhone 3Gs 16GB for £89. It costs ... £35 per month. Multiply by 1.6 to get prices in $.
Besides what Bartfat stated, note that the US mobile infrastructure is considerably larger than the UK. According to the CIA World Fact Book the UK is slightly smaller than Oregon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TenoBell
Its not easy to cover 308 million people over 9.83 million sq km.
So far AT&T can't provide "adequate" coverage for pretty small metropolian areas like Bay Area or New York.
Verizon sees it will eventually be in the same situation as AT&T and is why they have said that providing unlimited data is not sustainable in the long term. Eventually they said they will charge for the amount of data you use.
I dont think VZW has an unlimited data plan, atleast not when i was there (it was 5GB for 30 bucks).
Unlimited Mobile Data just isnt going to be plausible, at least not until the end of this decade. Even as bandwidth increases, so do smartphone features. I cant wait to see how hard Flash hits once its available to more mainstream phones.
And they provide much better coverage for the population. About 15-20 million people live in Moscow area and they have no troubles with coverage. Yes, there some restrictions for 3G network in Moscow (for military purpose), but it'll be solved in a year. In addition, they pay much less for the cellphone service.
And they provide much better coverage for the population. About 15-20 million people live in Moscow area and they have no troubles with coverage. Yes, there some restrictions for 3G network in Moscow (for military purpose), but it'll be solved in a year. In addition, they pay much less for the cellphone service.
Comments
For example, there's a low cost company in Spain that runs through Orange's antennas (France Telecom) called Simyo that offers unlimited data at 3.6 Mbps speeds for 25 euros a month and after 5 GB it reduced the speed to 128 Kbps. When a new month starts, the speed increases to 3.6 Mbps again. It seems logical that for cheap data plans there are some limitations and 5 GB on a cellphone line seems pretty generous, and after 5 GB of data it isn't unusable at 128 Kbps either and they don't charge anything extra.
Others offer limited data with faster access and a very low price, like Pepephone, they offer 300 MB for 7 euros a month at 21 Mbps and 7.2 Mbps speeds (depending on the coverage, 90% of Spain's population has access to 7.2 Mbps speeds and certain parts of Spain have access to 21 Mbps speeds although it's expected that during 2010 most 7.2 Mbps stations have been upgraded to 21 Mbps speeds). It's cheap, fast and enough data limit for cellphone use.
There are other fast and less restrictive data plans, but they're also more expensive. Both of these seem to be a good example of what AT&T and Verizon should do, sense they're cheap and speedy and none of them strain the cellphone network so much that it makes the network work as crappy as in the US (haven't had a dropped call in years, literally).
I like this idea by Verizon, but 25 mb/month is way too low. My wife hardly does anything on her iPhone and she averages ~55-60 mb....
25MB is what?.....one good iPhone App?
Thanks to the data hogs, watch all the carriers raise the data rates and implement tiered plans. There simply is not enough bandwidth to go around.
Am I the only one here who feels that Americans are being ripped off by their own companies?
I got my 3G iPhone the summer of 08 just before the economy went off a cliff. If I had known, I wouldn't have spent the money on a luxury item. Especially now that my wife and I have taken pay cuts to keep our jobs.
And being an AT&T customer has been a horriblel experience. As soon as my contract is up, it's back to a cheap Verizon phone and my iPod classic.
Shame too since the iPhone gets better every year. I love the new Mobile Me photo gallery app. Too bad it only works when I have a signal.
I love the new Mobile Me photo gallery app. Too bad it only works when I have a signal.
It's kind'a sad that people in the US still have signal problems :-S
That's because the wireless companies don't really compete with each other. They have various ways to keep this from happening, the non-shared wireless spectrum, the non-shared lines and infrastructure, and worse, they have termination fees that are through the roof on top of incompatible phones. So I'd say they barely compete with all these obstacles from making the consumer easily switching from each other and that's why it's so expensive in the US.
In the end it all comes down to government regulation, or the lack thereof. Washington is funded by lobbyist (from telecom and other industries), so the consumer ends up getting screwed.
And being an AT&T customer has been a horriblel experience. As soon as my contract is up, it's back to a cheap Verizon phone and my iPod classic.
Besides what Bartfat stated, note that the US mobile infrastructure is considerably larger than the UK. According to the CIA World Fact Book the UK is slightly smaller than Oregon.
It's kind'a sad that people in the US still have signal problems :-S
Its not easy to cover 308 million people over 9.83 million sq km.
Imagine how the Russians feel
Imagine how the Russians feel
I know you?re kidding, but just to be clear for some posters, countries like Russia and Canada maintain their populations is a small percentage of the country
I am not sure but it might have to do with the fact that in the US the telco subsidizes the cost of the phone while it sounds like in the EU many people buy their phones upfront. That said, our costs are still too high.
Let's look at Vodafone who just launched iPhone at its network.
600 minutes, unlimited text, 1GB of data, unlimited Wi-Fi, contract for 2 years, and iPhone 3Gs 16GB for £89. It costs ... £35 per month. Multiply by 1.6 to get prices in $.
Pretty nice, huh?
Besides what Bartfat stated, note that the US mobile infrastructure is considerably larger than the UK. According to the CIA World Fact Book the UK is slightly smaller than Oregon.
Its not easy to cover 308 million people over 9.83 million sq km.
So far AT&T can't provide "adequate" coverage for pretty small metropolian areas like Bay Area or New York.
Verizon sees it will eventually be in the same situation as AT&T and is why they have said that providing unlimited data is not sustainable in the long term. Eventually they said they will charge for the amount of data you use.
I dont think VZW has an unlimited data plan, atleast not when i was there (it was 5GB for 30 bucks).
Unlimited Mobile Data just isnt going to be plausible, at least not until the end of this decade. Even as bandwidth increases, so do smartphone features. I cant wait to see how hard Flash hits once its available to more mainstream phones.
Its not easy to cover 308 million people over 9.83 million sq km.
Exactly. I like how many other countries speak of their superior coverage when a number of them aren't even the size of some states here in the US.
Imagine how the Russians feel
And they provide much better coverage for the population. About 15-20 million people live in Moscow area and they have no troubles with coverage. Yes, there some restrictions for 3G network in Moscow (for military purpose), but it'll be solved in a year. In addition, they pay much less for the cellphone service.
So far AT&T can't provide "adequate" coverage for pretty small metropolian areas like Bay Area or New York.
That has nothing to do with Verizon or the original comment. I know you just to be negative toward Apple and AT&T but try to stay on track.
And they provide much better coverage for the population. About 15-20 million people live in Moscow area and they have no troubles with coverage. Yes, there some restrictions for 3G network in Moscow (for military purpose), but it'll be solved in a year. In addition, they pay much less for the cellphone service.
So much hate, so little truth.
That has nothing to do with Verizon or the original comment. I know you just to be negative toward Apple and AT&T but try to stay on track.
Because I DO use AT&T service in Bay Area and I know what I'm talking about
So much hate, so little truth.
Have you ever been in Moscow? I was.
Have you used a cellphone service there? I did
Do you speak Russian and read about Russian celluar carriers? I do.