Why is wireless data so expensive in the USA?

[dbsynergy]

So I just got back from a vacation in Iceland. In the capital city, Reykjavik, I stayed at a B&B where they provided WiFi via an LTE hotspot. I was thinking, that can't possibly be economical. I'm in a downtown apartment, there should be better options than this!

 

So I looked into it. Nope. ADSL is the best you can do, and it's only 6mbps. I was pulling 50mbps off this hotspot and they were charging pennies per MB compared to what US companies charge. 

 

See for youself: https://www.nova.is/barinn/internet/4g

 

The exchange rate is 120 ISK to 1 USD. That means their 100GB LTE plan costs about $50 USD. For $50 on Sprint, I only get 6GB, and a prepaid 3GB plan costs $60 on Verizon!

 

Now I'm thinking, what the hell?! Why is LTE service so much cheaper in Iceland?

[utiz4321]

So I just got back from a vacation in Iceland. In the capital city, Reykjavik, I stayed at a B&B where they provided WiFi via an LTE hotspot. I was thinking, that can't possibly be economical. I'm in a downtown apartment, there should be better options than this!

 

So I looked into it. Nope. ADSL is the best you can do, and it's only 6mbps. I was pulling 50mbps off this hotspot and they were charging pennies per MB compared to what US companies charge.

 

See for youself: https://www.nova.is/barinn/internet/4g

 

The exchange rate is 120 ISK to 1 USD. That means their 100GB LTE plan costs about $50 USD. For $50 on Sprint, I only get 6GB, and a prepaid 3GB plan costs $60 on Verizon!

 

Now I'm thinking, what the hell?! Why is LTE service so much cheaper in Iceland?

Iceland is a country of 600,000 or so If I remember correctly. The amount of spectrum per person is a lot more in Iceland than the US further since Iceland is such a small market they need to be in different markets beside smart phone and tabs to recover the fix cost.

[lil_jimmy_norton]

Iceland is about 40k Square Miles.

 

US is almost 4 Million.

 

Much cheaper to cover 40k square miles with a robust network than it is 4 Mil.

[z250kid]

Simple because were USA over pay for everything lol

[bakedc4]

'Murica is all about finding ways to make the rich richer and the poor poorer so that the rich can continue to control everything.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[Smashed Ixnay]

IMO, data is so expensive b/c they know that's where they can make their $$$.  Not much competition hurts.   Hopefully T-mobile and Sprint make Verizon/AT&T lower their prices or give you more data for what they want you to pay now.

[WiWavelength]

Now I'm thinking, what the hell?! Why is LTE service so much cheaper in Iceland?

 

S4GRU does not host complaints.

 

And if you complain once more

You'll meet an army of Björk, an army of Björk

 

AJ

[Fraydog]

Blame these guys.

 

http://www.att.com

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com

[dbsynergy]

 

S4GRU does not host complaints.

 

And if you complain once more

You'll meet an army of Björk, an army of Björk

 

AJ

 

 

Oh no, not Björk! Speaking of...

 

[WiWavelength]

Oh no, not Björk! Speaking of...

 

Björk driving a massive truck and getting a dental exam from a gorilla is far more interesting...

 

 

 

AJ

[Nickel]

S4GRU does not host complaints.

 

And if you complain once more

You'll meet an army of Björk, an army of Björk

 

AJ

Would that mean he's borked?

[Bob Newhart]

I was in Iceland this month also, an amazing place, stunning!!

 

I was in the middle of nowhere, on one of those 4wd only roads in the southern part of the island, mountains all around, no buildings or towers to be seen, yet ..... full HSPA+ signal on Siminn.

 

http://www.siminn.is/english/internet/coverage/

 

300k people live there.

 

I stayed in a farm house b&b, miles from anywhere, and of course, great internet connection. They use some kind or wireless, I could see a lot of directional antennas on the buildings there. Low ping times, good service.

 

Loved it there, spendy. Quality of life is high for the people that live there.

[S4GRU]

I was made in Iceland. Really. My Dad was stationed at Keflavik in 1975. I was almost born there too. But my Mom made a Winter escape and landed in Grand Rapids, Michigan in time for my birth.

 

Wireless is cheap in Iceland because of me. You can send me thanks via a PayPal donation.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[WiWavelength]

I was made in Iceland. Really.

 

Where is your "Gerðar á Íslandi" tag?

 

 

AJ

[The Dave]

I was made in Iceland. Really. My Dad was stationed at Keflavik in 1975. I was almost born there too. But my Mom made a Winter escape and landed in Grand Rapids, Michigan in time for my birth.Wireless is cheap in Iceland because of me. You can send me thanks via a PayPal donation. ;)Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

You must be the reason why Iceland went bankrupt, too. It can be mighty pricey to import enough fried chicken to satisfy your hunger even back then.

[WiWavelength]

Would that mean he's borked?

 

No.  But in the 80s, we almost got Borked.

 

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

Where is your "Gerðar á Íslandi" tag?

 

 

AJ

You don't wanna know! You'd never be able to look at me again with a straight face.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[WiWavelength]

You don't wanna know! You'd never be able to look at me again with a straight face.

 

Is the tag inside your turtleneck?

 

 

AJ

[Bob Newhart]

Is the tag inside your turtleneck?

 

 

AJ

 

What?!?!??!?!?!?

[dbsynergy]

I was in the middle of nowhere, on one of those 4wd only roads in the southern part of the island, mountains all around, no buildings or towers to be seen, yet ..... full HSPA+ signal on Siminn.

 

That's quite a coincidence. We might have crossed each other in Landmannalaugar or Þórsmörk then when I was doing the same thing. I had the same experience with Vodafone.is. HSPA+ everywhere, including the highlands. SIM card only cost 1000kr and came with 1000kr worth of minutes which made the card free.

 

The NOVA LTE service only worked in the capital but when it worked, it was awesome. At first I felt bad that I used 3GB of their bandwidth backing up my pictures. After I looked up how much it cost, I didn't feel so bad. Makes me a little jealous that it's so cheap and fast.

 

I did see a bunch of spools of fiber at the harbor with Ericsson logos on the spools. It looks like Siminn is getting ready for a big LTE deployment too.

 

 

Wireless is cheap in Iceland because of me. You can send me thanks via a PayPal donation.

 

I guess I don't have a choice. Because of you I had a great wireless experience during my vacation  . I wish I could say the same during my road trip through Baja Mexico.