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US Cell Phone Plans Among World's Most Expensive
Albanach writes "An OECD report published today has shown moderate cell phone users in the United States are paying some of the highest rates in the world . Average US plans cost $52.99 per month compared to an average of $10.95 in Finland. The full report is available only to subscribers, however Excel sheets of the raw data are available to download." (You'll find those Excel sheets — which open just fine in OpenOffice — on the summary page linked above.)
No, I'm pretty sure it's just stupidity tax.
Anything that's even remotely related to telecommunications and internet in USA has this tax. You pay it because you're too stupid to tell your government to shape up and make your country what it was supposed to be - a republic - where the law protects the small guys from the big guys, and as such you keep getting shit on again and again by supersized monopolizing companies, that can do anything they want because they have the money.
Stupidity tax.
Heh, even communism is better than what you people have, and you don't even realize it.
Unfortunately, it looks like we have a real chance of switching to just such coverage here in the US too. Yep, we'll get that extra 20+% taxation (I even hear they're bandying about a VAT tax here too, to go with the current income tax)...and yet, those prices the companies charge that you mentioned...will still exist and not come down. It will go to some profit, and I'm guessing overhead for more govt. paperwork and oversight.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You are very close. It is about what the users are willing to pay, for prestige or otherwise.
It is just like the pharma companies here Stateside. If they can spend $0.10 making 10 pills, and have the choice of selling 10 of them for $10 each to 10 men or 1 of them for $100 to one man, they will set $100 as the price point every time. even though 9 of those 10 men cannot possibly afford the $100 and therefore go without the needed medical care, the companies are in it for the money. Period.
Lets see a national health care plan realistically address that issue and pharma sell the meds for the price they do in India.
How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
A big problem in Pharma is that only the US is paying for R&D costs
Firstly, big Pharma in the USA spends more money on wining & dining physicians to get them to prescribe the new expensive drugs than is spent on R&D.
Secondly, big Pharma companies are international, so when GlaxoSmithKline develops a drug in USA, eventually that drug is marketed around the world; and when GSK develops a drug in Europe, eventually that drug is marketed ... around the world. GSK is spending the R&D money. The difference is where the R&D money is spent; i.e. the USA is getting the benefit of the R&D money being spent in USA.