Internet Service Comparison - Page 4

tompe · 07-08-2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khalleron

I'm amazed at the cheap Internet most of you Europeans have, since everything else over there seems so much more expensive. Do your governments subsidize it?

No, the reason is a working market with competition among providers.

Kumabjorn · 07-08-2012, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khalleron

I'm amazed at the cheap Internet most of you Europeans have, since everything else over there seems so much more expensive. Do your governments subsidize it?

I'm amazed how few providers you have in the US considering the size of the market. Sweden is 20 times smaller, yet have room for four competitive providers in the cellular market. Even more when it comes to land lines.

HarryT · 07-08-2012, 02:30 PM

Same in the UK; it's a massively competitive market.

plib · 07-08-2012, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khalleron

I'm amazed at the cheap Internet most of you Europeans have, since everything else over there seems so much more expensive. Do your governments subsidize it?

It's called a "free market". You know. That thing all the US (and Canuck, they're no better) corporations keep trumpeting about as they slip money to the politicians to keep their monopolies.

Rob Lister · 07-08-2012, 03:18 PM

www.speedtest.net

Cdesja5 · 07-08-2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plib

It's called a "free market". You know. That thing all the US (and Canuck, they're no better) corporations keep trumpeting about as they slip money to the politicians to keep their monopolies.

Our telcom services in Canada are definitely NOT known for being competitive. Any Canadian will tell you he/she pays too much!

plib · 07-08-2012, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdesja5

Our telcom services in Canada are definitely NOT known for being competitive. Any Canadian will tell you he/she pays too much!

That was kinda my point. (Where's the tongue in cheek smiley when you need it?)

khalleron · 07-08-2012, 11:40 PM

Well, OK.

So why is everything else so expensive over there?

Belfaborac · 07-09-2012, 01:02 AM

You can't compare the two sides of the Atlantic the way you seem to want to do. On this side our taxes and the VAT (which is mainly, or partly, what makes things expensive) pays for universal health care, free education, pensions and what have you. On your side, you (or your employer if you're lucky) pay for most or all of that stuff yourself. That's all too simplistic of course, but basically the way it is.

At the end of the day there's relatively little difference. After paying for everything out your own pocket which the state pays for here (with our tax money of course), the average American is left with a lot less disposable income, but since prices are lower in the US that income goes further. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Kumabjorn · 07-09-2012, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khalleron

Well, OK.

So why is everything else so expensive over there?

In some segments, especially retail, competition isn't very hard. Some large chains tends to dominate completely in their chosen segment. Most malls in Sweden are a snooze fest, it doesn't matter which mall you choose they all have the same selection of stores with the same selection of goods.

One example; IKEA has a reputation for being inexpensive, in truth they have amazing margins, but they cut out the production factor that cost the most for furniture, labor, by having the customers do the assembly themselves.

Shaggy · 07-09-2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

(As a matter of interest, when my ISP introduced usage caps, they said that their reason for doing so was that under 0.1% of their customers were using 70% of their total network capacity, and that capacity has to be paid for. It's not fair for a tiny proportion of users to degrade performance for everyone.)

I bet the ISP originally advertised the service as "unlimited" when the 0.1% signed up. Is it fair to sell an unlimited service, and then not have enough bandwidth in place without degrading performance for your customers?

IMO, advertising internet service as "unlimited" in the first place was probably a mistake. There's nothing wrong with a company making a business decision to change the model, but blaming it on customers who use it the way it was originally advertised is a little disingenuous.

From a PR standpoint though, pointing the finger at 0.1% of your customer base probably has less of a long term impact than saying "Oops, we over sold the network".

Cdesja5 · 07-09-2012, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

You can't compare the two sides of the Atlantic the way you seem to want to do. On this side our taxes and the VAT (which is mainly, or partly, what makes things expensive) pays for universal health care, free education, pensions and what have you. On your side, you (or your employer if you're lucky) pay for most or all of that stuff yourself. That's all too simplistic of course, but basically the way it is.

At the end of the day there's relatively little difference. After paying for everything out your own pocket which the state pays for here (with our tax money of course), the average American is left with a lot less disposable income, but since prices are lower in the US that income goes further. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

I hope you are not lumping Canada into "the other side of the Atlantic" with the US! Canada has much more in common with Europe than the US when it comes to universal health care, inexpensive education (a BA in Québec at McGill is about $3600 x 3 years, college is free, even in Ontario where education is the most expensive, it is much cheaper than in the US), pensions and higher taxes.
Unfortunately our regulations and laws in place to "protect" our national interests and identity result in higher prices in certain sectors such as telecommunications, air travel etc.

Belfaborac · 07-09-2012, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdesja5

I hope you are not lumping Canada into "the other side of the Atlantic" with the US!

I certainly didn't mean to do so, although I see that it could easily be taken that way. Sorry about that.

DarkScribe · 07-10-2012, 01:37 AM

I am Queensland Gold Coast based at the moment. I have a service with Telstra that allows 30MB/sec down and has a 500GB monthly cap. It costs $69 per month. I also have a phone plan (corporate) with them that allows unlimited calls and a further 8GB of data allowance on an iPhone 4s. If ever I get stuck while traveling I have a pocket WiFi (Sierra 3G) with another 12GB. It came with my iPad - less expensive than a high iPad data plan. I have never come close to exceeding 20% of my various monthly allowances. They just kept increasing my monthly allowances without any requests from me. I use Skype both mobile on my iPhone and at home so I seldom make a conventional call on any of my phones. I receive quite a few, but don't often call out.

HarryT · 07-10-2012, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

I am Queensland Gold Coast based at the moment. I have a service with Telstra that allows 30MB/sec down

That seems a little improbable. Perhaps you mean 30MBits/sec?

07-09-2012, 01:02 AM	#54
Belfaborac Wizard Posts: 1,498 Karma: 5199835 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Norway Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-950	You can't compare the two sides of the Atlantic the way you seem to want to do. On this side our taxes and the VAT (which is mainly, or partly, what makes things expensive) pays for universal health care, free education, pensions and what have you. On your side, you (or your employer if you're lucky) pay for most or all of that stuff yourself. That's all too simplistic of course, but basically the way it is. At the end of the day there's relatively little difference. After paying for everything out your own pocket which the state pays for here (with our tax money of course), the average American is left with a lot less disposable income, but since prices are lower in the US that income goes further. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Last edited by Belfaborac; 07-09-2012 at 01:05 AM.

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07-08-2012, 02:30 PM	#48
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Same in the UK; it's a massively competitive market.

07-08-2012, 03:18 PM	#50
Rob Lister Fanatic Posts: 532 Karma: 3293888 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Virginia Device: Nook Simple Touch	www.speedtest.net

07-08-2012, 11:40 PM	#53
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	Well, OK. So why is everything else so expensive over there?

07-10-2012, 01:37 AM	#59
DarkScribe Apprentice Curmudgeon. Posts: 427 Karma: 3286968 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Runaway Bay, QLD, , Australia Device: Kindle DX Graphite, Touch, Paperwhite, Sony, and Nook.	I am Queensland Gold Coast based at the moment. I have a service with Telstra that allows 30MB/sec down and has a 500GB monthly cap. It costs $69 per month. I also have a phone plan (corporate) with them that allows unlimited calls and a further 8GB of data allowance on an iPhone 4s. If ever I get stuck while traveling I have a pocket WiFi (Sierra 3G) with another 12GB. It came with my iPad - less expensive than a high iPad data plan. I have never come close to exceeding 20% of my various monthly allowances. They just kept increasing my monthly allowances without any requests from me. I use Skype both mobile on my iPhone and at home so I seldom make a conventional call on any of my phones. I receive quite a few, but don't often call out.