The USA has the 3rd highest cellular (mobile) internet costs

The costs of mobile internet varies around the world.

Source: Cable.co.uk and published by Forbes and Statista

A recent study by Cable.co.uk revealed that the USA, despite being the world’s most connected country, has the world’s 3rd most expensive costs for 1 gigabyte of mobile internet.

The study compared over 6,000 mobile data rate plans in 230 countries.

In trying to understand why this is the case, WorkBench considered some of causes for such high costs.

Is it because of the geographical size of the USA? No, some very large and even more challenging terrains in Brazil, Australia and Russia are able to deliver much lower costs.

Is it because of the speed and quality of the service is better in the USA? The USA download speeds are very good and the investment into 5G in 2019 is equal highest in the world with China. However, Ookla’s Speed Test Intelligence in 2018 measured fastest mobile download speeds and concluded that the USA is faster than the world’s average mobile download speed of 22.82 Mbps (Megabits per second), but was outperformed by many other countries.

Table: Fastest mobile download speeds by country

So why is the USA so expensive when it comes to mobile download speed? WorkBench believes it is related to the structure of the industry and a lack of true competition in comparison to other nations.

Please share your thoughts.