Worldwide Mobile Data Prices

by davidd

Posted on March 5, 2019

12

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

 

 

Comments (12)

12 responses to “Worldwide Mobile Data Prices”

  1. davidD

    Editing doesn't seem to be working (on Edge or Chrome) so here goes …


    To summise - US avg. $12.37 per GB of Data, UK $6.66 (one of the highest in Europe), Worldwide avg. $8.53.

    2 years ago
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  2. Paul Thurrott

    USA! USA! USA!

    2 years ago
    0

  3. lvthunder

    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.

    2 years ago
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  4. Daekar

    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.

    2 years ago
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  5. BigM72

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

    2 years ago
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  6. minke

    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.

    2 years ago
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    • locust infested orchard inc

      In reply to Minke:


      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".


      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.


      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 (<$13) for 50+ GB.


      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.


      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 >$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.

      2 years ago
      0

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