Discuss: U.S. Mobile Data Compared to Rest of Globe

/31 Comments/in /by

[NB: Check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

I think I’m making things too hard on myself trying to write posts. Sometimes the material is self-evident. Like this:

Discuss the reasons why the U.S. is so non-competitive with other developed nations including some that are less developed, and nearly all that are smaller economies, when it comes to mobile data.

You’ll note this is just a comparison of pricing and not speed or accessibility. It’s not good. How do we fix this?

Do note the tweeter, Vala Afshar — his employer relies on mobile data. Why is our country holding his employer back and so many others who also rely on mobile data?

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31 replies
  1. Rayne says:

    Just as disgusted by this as by the lack of pervasive broadband. We pay so much for mobile data but our service is nothing like other countries like South Korea.

    How much of this is just plain bad management, like AT&T’s purchase of a media company? How much of this is profiteering in an environment with insufficient competitors?

    • Yancy says:

      The one and only time I caught myself falling into a rabbit hole of a conspiracy theory was around 2010. I live in the rural band of Florida that was supposed to get free broadband as part of Obama’s stimulus program.
      At the same time we had a missing child case. The online “sleuths” pretty much had me believing everyone in my town was part of a child sex slave trading ring or something. From point A to point B, I deduced that point C was Obama listening or reading in on every conversation any of us were having about the missing girl.

      My poor kids… I flipped out briefly, grabbing them and telling them fiercely that Oh my god they are watching us constantly and I am so sorry this was happening and I want you to know no matter what else, I love you more than anything in the world.

      As such, I’m kinda cool with not having that free government broadband in my town, LOL. (I think I really was thisclose to going totally Q that day, even though Q didn’t exist yet. Only lasted a few minutes, but I managed to scare the heck out of us all during that brief episode. Cured me of any future desire to entertain the what-ifs regarding conspiracy theories.)

      • Duke says:

        Perhaps, you could share your antibodies with Q crowd. Just tell them it protects against vaccinated heathens.

      • Rayne says:

        I’m thinking of a case from this week in which a girl was nearly kidnapped and fought off her assailant. The attacker had a history of stalking her as well as a background of crimes against children. The parent did everything right, the kid did absolutely super, and it wasn’t a case of human trafficking but a lone criminal with a history. I suspect this is what most cases are like, not some big human trafficking conspiracy, and this case turned out the way it should. But the case also shows the limits of what average citizens can do when the system itself fails to flag a repeat offender who is addicted to this kind of crime. How would your having better/worse internet access have done anything to affect this case if you lived in Escambia County, Florida?

  2. Dsl says:

    Up here in Canada, we’re jealous of your ‘great deals’ down in the US! Our cable & satellite companies own the tv stations, phone lines, the internet and the mobile networks. They just charge what they want and they don’t compete. They buy out competitors when they are allowed to pop up. It’s late stage capitalism at its best, doncha know?

    Up until recently, we were paying $45 a month for a phone line as part of a bundled discount with our cable provider. Internet is around $100 and cable tv is north of that. My wife and I both pay around $60-80 a month for cell phones. It’s all redundant stuff but the cable companies need that money to invest in…investors? The families that own the companies? Politicians? Not clear

    • namekarB says:

      It is a Coca Cola / Pepsi Cola world. Coke owns half and Pepsi owns the other half. This is sold as true competition. Two banks, two telecoms, two railroads etc etc. But no, they absolutely do not collude on prices. I know they don’t because when asked, they deny it.

        • Rayne says:

          When was the last time you saw RC Cola on the shelves let alone bought it? Dr. Pepper is a bigger share of the market although oddly enough both RC Cola and Dr. Pepper are owned by the same parent corp, and even more odd is the parent, Keurig Dr. Pepper.

        • bmaz says:

          Gonna go find some. To consume with new Ooni Pizza experiment. WHY are you trying to make me fat??

        • Duke says:

          Fat-man in a Bathtub by Little Feat was playing while I read your comment. Hope you aren’t turning Orange at the same time you eat your way to happiness.
          Ooni vs pizza stone in a grill? Inspirational to finish building the brick oven on the patio with a design enhancement.

        • Eureka says:

          Don’t forget the dessert! If they make a “mini grizzler pan” like a small cast iron griddle size, get it. Friend’s brewpub makes a cookie in dessert-sized pan (scoop of gelato for decoration atop) and it’s the best darn thing I’ve ever had. I mean, perfectly caramelized choc chip cookie — you dig it out with a spoon.

        • nord dakota says:

          Next door to my house is a small parking lot for an apartment building across the alley from me. I can attest to having seen an empty 12 pack of RC in the brush between the parking lot and my back yard this week. It’s in my recycling bin now.

  3. P J Evans says:

    I’m paying $30 or $40 a month for DSL. The alternative is the local-monopoly cable company, the one that sends me spam every week trying to get me to sign up for services I don’t want or need.

    • boba says:

      $35/month for internet from local ISP. 20 Mb/s more than adequate.
      No TV/Cable. There’s a TV in the house, I think it’s in the garage. I’ll use an antenna if I want to see something.
      $15 /month for the phone. The plan comes with 1 GB data but the phone is dumb so I don’t use it.
      Now the frau has one of those fancy schmancy iPhones and overpays it and all the things around it, but me, I’m happy with CLI (Command Line Interface).
      In case you’re wondering, you are correct: it’s me and a couple of Bantu tribesmen/women who are the last holdouts from the Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, whatever else is social. Don’t need, don’t want, won’t buy, don’t miss.

    • marduk says:

      I abandoned cable internet at the same time I cut the TV cable cord because they were jacking us around on price.

      I had crappy DSL service for about 9 months.

      The cable company started sending me flyers for $14/mo 40 Mb/s.

      I’ve had it for years now.

      • nord dakota says:

        Cable internet here, although I don’t have cable TV. And when the trees leaf out broadcast TV pretty much disappears except for PBS. I pay $92 a month. I did some work for Oklahoma unemployment last spring (it was a temporary assignment from my company, I can tell all about the horrors) and learned that a lot of people in more rural areas were paying $150 if they had internet. And people who relied on cell phones as their computer often had to drive to town to get a good enough signal to attempt to file.

        Several years ago, I realized that between phone (landline at the time), DSL (through the phone company), the newspaper, and cable TV (at the time), and 2 cheaper cell phones I was paying a LOT of money to have communication with the world.

  4. punaise says:

    TPM: AZ SoS Says Maricopa Election Equipment Shouldn’t Be Used Again After Sketchy Audit

    Comment there:

    Get the meanest lawyer in Arizona and sue those fuckers for every nickel they’ve cost and then put a nice round sum on top for defamation. This is just outrageous.

    Me: hey, I know just the right guy for this!

      • bmaz says:

        Listen, WTF is wrong with you? This is the second time today you have been seriously out of line. I know the people here in AZ doing the right thing, it has nothing to do with me. Stop blowing stupid bunk you have no knowledge of.

  5. Robert A Pierson says:

    Because everything in America tends to become a racket. Corporations work with government to create ‘markets’ with rules and regulations. Guess who ends up winning in these ‘markets’. The people and entities that designed them of course. That’s the whole point. This is the distilled essence of neoliberalism.

    This isn’t without its advantages because it leads to stability. In the case of mobile and broadband it means robust investment in infrastructure. Huge networks spanning an entire continent. But then again, 7200%

  6. Rapier says:

    Because everything in America tends to become a racket. Corporations work with government to create ‘markets’ with rules and regulations. Guess who ends up winning in these ‘markets’. The people and entities that designed them of course. That’s the whole point. This is the distilled essence of neoliberalism.

    Cable companies are mostly local monopolies after all. I mean cripes, free market?

    This isn’t without its advantages because it leads to stability. In the case of mobile and broadband it means robust investment in infrastructure. Huge networks spanning an entire continent. But then again, 7200%

  7. Lawnboy says:

    Look people!!!! Someone has got to pay for all that spyware and mirrored structure, and the big data farm and and …

    And it ain’t cheap . Jebbbbbussss. Cummon!!!!

    Just had a chat with a Cisco chap….. retired. Oh Boy.
    My way or the Waw-way (sp)

  8. Bobster33 says:

    I have always thought credit cards, phone service and internet were a crock. In Uganda, people without bank accounts send money using the phone network MTN. There is an MTN authorized dealer literally in ever other store/kiosk. The fee for using the network is 0.75% or lower. American Express charges 4.5%.

    We in the US tolerate 8 times the fees that Uganda tolerates.

    And don’t get me started about phone rates. My iphone cost me $.45 per minute to call the US from Uganda. I eventually got smart, bought a Ugandan burner phone for $13 and enjoyed calls for $.025 per minute.

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