US Broadband prices vs. rest of the world--nothing has changed

Let's face it. For pervasive use of advanced web applications, like streaming video, you need affordable broadband access. And the US is way behind on this count.

I talked about this in a January post, using numbers from 2005, and today I saw an update on Muniwireless.com. I was hopeful the situation had changed. But, alas, no. Even with the fall of the US dollar over the past few years (a nearly 20% decline vs. the euro since 2003), European and Asian prices for broadband are in some cases far less than ours. Here's a brief comparison:

Price per megabit:

South Korea: $0.34
Japan: $0.70
France: $1.68
Italy: $3.45
USA: $3.33 (fiber), $7.16 (cable)

(sources: US - company websites, other countries - Muniwireless.com)

Now, if you sign up for a bundled package, your price will be somewhat lower. But I can't help but feel a bit of envy for people in Seoul who can buy 50 Mbit/sec access for $17 per month. Imagine watching "Lost" reruns over that kind of connection.

On the bright side, we get a far better deal on broadband than our friends in the United Kingdom. They pay $11.31 per megabit, according to the Telegraph. Remember that the next time you pay your Comcast bill.



(Photo: "fiberoptics" by rotorhead via stock.xchng)

broadband technology pricing