Worldwide Mobile Data Prices

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47416250

 

 

Conversation 12 comments

  • davidD

    Premium Member
    05 March, 2019 - 5:19 pm

    <p>Editing doesn't seem to be working (on Edge or Chrome) so here goes …</p><p><br></p><p>To summise – US avg. $12.37 per GB of Data, UK $6.66 (one of the highest in Europe), Worldwide avg. $8.53.</p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    05 March, 2019 - 6:21 pm

    <p>USA! USA! USA!</p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    05 March, 2019 - 6:36 pm

    <p>The piece the article is missing is the cost to deploy the infrastructure or even the speed of the data. It's not like the cost to put up a cell tower is the same here in the US as it is in Africa.</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      06 March, 2019 - 8:49 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#409305">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'm skeptical that deployment costs and/or better speeds account for a ~90% increase in data rates relative to Europe. I'm skeptical that speeds are even better. My guess is that the bigger differences are driven by competitive forces and the regulatory environment, areas where the US is much weaker. </p>

  • Daekar

    06 March, 2019 - 7:20 pm

    <p>Given that the US has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world and that prices for services with elastic demand should scale to a degree with average income, all of this seems to make logical and predictable sense. No surprises, really.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      06 March, 2019 - 8:47 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#409608">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah, but the amount of money our carriers reinvest is pitiful. We pay high, receive low.</p>

      • Daekar

        07 March, 2019 - 7:49 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#409653">In reply to jimchamplin:</a></em></blockquote><p>I don't disagree. But given the incentive structure that's present as a result of our culture and because of our weak anti-trust and other laws governing large corporations, that's kind of like complaining that water boils at 100°C.</p>

    • locust infested orchard inc

      07 March, 2019 - 10:26 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#409608">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>The research at <a href="https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/&quot; target="_blank">https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/</a&gt; concludes the following regarding the developed nations:</p><p><br></p><p>"<em>Wealthy economy: Wealthy nations tend to have good mobile infrastructure, decently-sized data caps and relatively healthy markets. Since populations can afford to pay more [they then are made to pay more], and network infrastructure costs that much more to own and run, and provided they haven't reached the 'excellent infrastructure' category where data limits are beyond normal usage or entirely unlimited, data pricing tends towards the global average [but with a few countries, e.g. USA, skewing the data trend]</em>."</p>

  • BigM72

    06 March, 2019 - 10:21 pm

    <p>I took a look at this report and let's just say I think their methodology is very suspect.</p>

  • minke

    07 March, 2019 - 8:55 am

    <p>There are deals out there though. I am currently paying $60 per month for two lines of unlimited data on T Mobile. My cost per GB is probably less than $1. The average cost in the USA is driven way up because of our carrier lock-ins where a substantial portion of what you pay subsidizes the cost of your phone. Most of the world purchases their phones outright and then shops around for the cheapest data. Here in the USA people shop for the cheapest upfront cost and ignore the long-term consequences of paying more per month. Phone prices are much higher in much of the world too, especially when you compare them to incomes.</p>

    • locust infested orchard inc

      07 March, 2019 - 10:18 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#409742">In reply to Minke:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>The BBC article points outs the research carried out by Cable.co.uk research "looked solely at SIM-only deals and included a range of packages from all the providers in each country".</p><p><br></p><p>Therefore your outlook of the USA market purchasing a part-subsidised phone along with a 12/18/24 month contract is not really applicable to the research.</p><p><br></p><p>That said, the subsidised model is buoyant in Europe too, and knowing the desperation of cellular carriers to retain contractual customers at the end of they contracts, a single phone call/web chat to the 'retention' team often results in a doubling/tripling of the existing data allowance whilst decreasing the monthly payment for a new contract. The result is often a crazy low price (&lt;$13) for 50+ GB.</p><p><br></p><p>Generally speaking though, with the yearly iterations of new phones having little to differentiate as compared to their predecessors, people would rather keep their existing phones for a number of years, and simply use a SIM-only option, hence the increasing prevalence of SIM-only options over fixed contracts, presumably why the focus of the research dealt with SIM-only.</p><p><br></p><p>In the developing nations where salaries are often a magnitude lower than the developed countries, the likes of iPhones and the Galaxy S range are at best aspirational (ed: iPhone aspirational ? An iNotch with a slower Intel LTE modem for &gt;$1000. Only those besotted with the part-bitten logo shall entertain such a device), where the emerging middle-class opt to purchase outright flagship-esque phones from the several notable Chinese brands and the SameSong Galaxy A and J ranges, plus the new M range, with SIM-only plans.</p>

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