US Customers Pay 10 Times More for LTE Than Those in Sweden; 3X More Than All Europe

[dgstorm]

A new study performed by the research branch of the GSM Association based in London, shows a disturbing trend here in the United States. Apparently, US consumers pay a lot more for their data than folks in Europe.

The study took a look at the average price that US consumers pay for LTE service compared to Europe as a whole and to Sweden in particular (because that is where LTE was first introduced). The study used only Verizon Wireless for their baseline since it is the largest LTE network in the US. The study found that there are 27 million LTE subscribers in the world, and about half of those are all in the US. Also, South Korea is the second-largest market for LTE service. They have 7.5 million subscribers. Japan comes in third with 3.5 million users. Finally, LTE service is in 21 different European countries, and Germany has the most throughout Europe.

The disturbing info for US customers is that, according to their results, customers in the States pay roughly 3 times more than all of Europe, and over 10 times more than folks in Sweden. Here's a quote with more details,

A comparison by Wireless Intelligence, a unit of the GSM Association, suggests that being in the biggest LTE market has not brought low prices to U.S. consumers.

According to the study, Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, charges $7.50 for each gigabyte of data downloaded over its LTE network. That is three times the European average of $2.50 and more than 10 times what consumers pay in Sweden, where a gigabyte costs as little as 63 cents.

Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, which is based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, said the Verizon Wireless LTE plan cited in the study also included unlimited voice minutes, unlimited text, picture and video messages shared among 10 different data-capable devices and a mobile hotspot on the smartphone. Having a data-only plan, Ms. Raney said, would reduce the per-gigabyte charge at Verizon Wireless to $5.50 — still be more than twice the European average.

When trying to disseminate this data, these results seem counter-intuitive. You would think since there are so many more customers wanting LTE in the US, that it would drive the price down and they would be cheaper. The main reason that is not the case is that in Europe there are far more carriers that offer the service than in the US. In fact, Europe has the largest number of operators selling LTE service with 38 of 88 total global operators.

Hmmm... so that's what a Monopoly looks like. This Softbank buyout of Sprint could be a very good thing for US consumers.

Source: NYT

 

[zomnomnombie]

I say we just subsidize phones so much that the carriers pay us $100 to give us a new phone and then we all just pay a flat $199 a month per phone. Since we all love that $199 price point right.

I hope one of the big carriers starts offering subsidy free plans soon.

 

[diablo81588]

Re: US Customers Pay 10 Times More

This is kind of stupid. It costs Verizon billions of dollars to roll out LTE across the united states. They have by far the most LTE coverage in terms of subscribers, so why would the price be cheaper? Verizon doesn't charge separately for LTE data, so why would the price go down? I could understand if the network was fully deployed, but there's still many areas without LTE altogether, and the markets that have access are not fully covered.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[johnomaz]

I don't think subsidies are the problem. I think it is greed pure and simple. Supply and demand doesn't apply to certain things such as cell service. They can say that people hog all the data and so data caps had to be put in place, thats bull. The companies have realized that they have us by the proverbial balls when it comes to our phones and they can charge whatever they want and we will continue to pay. One company says "Hey, lets charge more" /cough Verizon and when no one leaves in them any quantity that matters, every other company does it too.

I do not have a home phone so yes, I need a cell phone. I have a wife and two kids so if anything happens, I need to be able to be reached. However I'm getting kind of tired to the point that I may get a phone that I can pay for 500 minutes and they don't expire and I can put more on it when I need to. Then I'll keep my deactivated S3 for use on Wifi when I have everywhere and not worry about mobile data as I tend to have wifi wherever I'm at, home/work/families houses. Sadly most teenagers are spoiled brats and their parents buy them their new iPhones so they can text all day long and you have people that think they are the most important person in the world and talk on it constantly no matter what they are doing. I work at a high school and if students put as much effort into their school work as they do trying to text without getting caught, they'd all have straight As. And don't even get me started on the ******* teachers who can't put the phone down to teach. Frankly cell phones are a huge problem in today's society and even though I am an enthusiast and I have one, I have no problem putting it down when I'm at work or driving or any other time you don't need to be on it.

 

[avgilbert]

"Supply and demand" absolutely applies! As customers, we are paying for the service we receive. We are welcome to purchase from another provider or choose not to carry a cell phone at all. Granted, Verizon has a de facto monopoly in some areas, but more often than not, there are other carriers (in the US) to choose from. I'm not saying Verizon isn't making money, but they are charging what the market will bear. Also, we should keep in mind that their expansion costs are likely far higher, consider that the country of the United States is roughly 2 and a half TIMES the size of the continent of Europe.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if government regulations come into play? I would assume Europe would be more heavily regulated, but if I'm mistaken and it's the US, then that would add considerable cost as well, which obviously has to be paid for by the end user.

 

[npro1464]

I say we just subsidize phones so much that the carriers pay us $100 to give us a new phone and then we all just pay a flat $199 a month per phone. Since we all love that $199 price point right.

I hope one of the big carriers starts offering subsidy free plans soon.

They already do: Monthly 4G Prepaid Plans | Compare Prepaid Data Plans | T-Mobile

 

[tgyberg]

They already do: Monthly 4G Prepaid Plans | Compare Prepaid Data Plans | T-Mobile

Man those prices would be nice!!

 

[sweeeeet]

I can help lower the average by using 10000gb per month on my unlimited plan lol

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[zomnomnombie]

They already do: Monthly 4G Prepaid Plans | Compare Prepaid Data Plans | T-Mobile

Major carrier as in Verizon, AT&T or Sprint.

 

[Quantumstate]

Well THAT'S WHAT THEY GET FOR BEING SOCIALISTS!!




Uhm, wait a minute...

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

First world problems.

 

[pc747]

It comes down to this: Verizon can charge the price because we are willing to pay for it. You want the verizon's att's to drop in price then every one start going to metro, cricket, and virgin mobile. Its like they say it is worth what the customer is willing to pay. We love having data on the go that is fast and reliable along with a strong network and we are willing to pay the cost to have it. As much as we complain about it we continue to write the check. So what do verizon do they have a csr who answers the phone and take the venom of customers complaining about the price and then tell then how reliable the network is which make the customer continue to write the check. It is sort of like the argument about walmart. I know people who complain about how walmart is tearing down the fabric of our country with their cheap Chinese imports and low wages and yet people continues to shop there. Until people stop spending hundreds of dollars at a time at walmart it will continue. But it comes to this we like walmart because every thing is in one place so I no longer have to burn gas going to different stores to buy food, clothes, electronics, etc. I can go to one store and pay low prices to shop for groceries, pet food, clothes, christmas gifts, home improvement items, and electronics and that trumps all the other issues.

 

[AdamPA1006]

I dont think Verizon is any greedier and any of you guys. We would all be doing the same thing if we were in charge. Who wouldnt try to make the most possible? They do provide a great service though. Thats why most of us will not drop it.

 

[geoff5093]

For one, the U.S. has far more area to cover, most of which has very few customers. Whereas Europe and Japan are for the most part pretty densely popular. If you live in the city and don't need parts of the country covered where you will never, ever go, then switch to T-Mobile. You are paying for nationwide service with Verizon.

 

[THE WITCH]

Some of us users don't have much of a choice in carriers. Verizon has the best coverage in my areas. I would not get any coverage in many spots wit AT&T. That doesn't mean that I like paying high monthly fees. :icon_evil: