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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.)
How many GSM towers does it take to cover the whole of Finland?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
There's simply a lot more land to cover in the US, and that is covered by fewer companies than in Europe and elsewhere. Covering more land requires more towers and more expense.
I'm really failing to make the point I'm attempting.
US prices are not affordable for many people (myself included). So, don't pay them. Find an alternative (like the couple I pointed out) until they get their act together. I have a land-line and a cell phone and can text or call long-distance as much as I want pretty affordably. Just not on the road for more than ~5 minutes/day. Not affordable == Don't use. If you think that whining will help, whine away - Seriously - I'm too lazy to do that, but if it'll help please go to the providers and complain. Just don't shell out $$ at the same time so that it's clear that you truly are a lost sale because of their high prices and crappy service.
I realize that what makes sense for me doesn't make sense for everyone, but people seem to often confuse "really makes my life easier" with "need". Few if any people "need" 450 minutes and 1500 txt messages.
The fact that you're shelling out $70/month tells me that it's very clear that at least one of us doesn't "seem to understand basic logic".
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.