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People in the U.S. Pay More for Slower Internet Than European, Canadian, and Asian Counterparts

posted by janrinok on Sunday October 10 2021, @11:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-feel-the-need-for-speed! dept.

upstart writes:

People in the U.S. pay more for slower internet than European, Canadian, and Asian counterparts, according to the Open Technology Institute:

A survey conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found that 7% of Americans lack access to reliable broadband. One reason for this may be how expensive internet access is in the U.S.

"People in the U.S. pay more for slower internet than people abroad," Open Technology Institute policy analyst Claire Park said. "For many consumers, the cost of getting online right now is simply too high and also too complicated."

The Open Technology Institute has been studying the price and speed of internet services advertised within the United States as well as abroad. Its 2020 Cost of Connectivity Report found that the average advertised monthly cost of internet in the U.S. is $68.38, which is higher than the average price of internet access for all of North America, Europe and Asia.

Outdated infrastructure in the U.S. may also be impeding internet access to millions of Americans, and lawmakers have been debating how to increase internet availability and performance.

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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday October 11 2021, @12:28PM (2 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday October 11 2021, @12:28PM (#1186111)

    I think your estimate is quite low for the US, at least in my area: Regularly-priced Internet service in my area of the USA goes for $75 a month. For a tipped minimum-wage employee such as a restaurant waiter, that could be as much as 30 hours if their boss is stealing their tips or the customers are assholes who don't tip. For a minimum-wage employee such as fast food and many agricultural workers, that's 10 hours of labor. For somebody working retail, that's typically 6-8 hours. Highly educated professionals make that in about 0.5-1 hours. But there are a lot more people at the lower end of the pay scale than the high end, so I'd pin it at roughly 7 hours of labor to pay for Internet.

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  • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Monday October 11 2021, @01:45PM (1 child)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 11 2021, @01:45PM (#1186128) Journal

    Does your area still, today, have jobs that pay minimum wage? ... and they are still in business?

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday October 11 2021, @02:26PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Monday October 11 2021, @02:26PM (#1186138)

      Yes: Agricultural and landscaping work mostly in my rural area. Where I used to live in a major city, it was even more common.

      The cost of living is low enough that approximately 120 minimum wage hours per month is enough to eke out rent, food, and utilities. Not easy, but possible.

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      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.