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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Outdated infrastructure in the U.S. may also be impeding internet access to millions of Americans, and lawmakers have been debating how to increase internet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.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday October 12 2021, @03:27PM (1 child)
Christiana TN USA (Rural). $108.79/month Speedtest.net says 432.65 Mbps down, and 222.15 Mbps up, but I've seen much higher speeds previously so those numbers are suspect.
Nominally it's Gig fiber.
What's it cost? Well, that's complicated because At&t.
The "Monthly Charges" for internet 1000 is $75, including $10 off because I have a "bundle".
The "Bundle" includes TV which I don't use, but the bundle is the only way to get unlimited data.
The cost of the TV service is $19 for basic service and almost that again in fees.
* 9.99 Broadcast tv fee
* 0.08 Regulatory Video cost recovery fee
* 2.77 TN Local Video Service Franchise Fee
* 0.83 for county sales tax
* 2.12 for state sales tax
All up I pay 108.79 monthly for gig fiber internet service. That's about 9 hours at the local chic-fil-a $12.50 starting pay. I couldn't find a median hourly wage for the US, but the Median annual wage is 34,248.45. Dividing that by 2080 hours gives an hourly rate of $16.47 gives 6.6 hours of the median wage with very large error bars on it because I did some fuzzy math. A $16/hour job isn't hard to find here; e.g. The local Cold Storage warehouse pays that to start, has a raise at 90 days, benefits, and all the overtime (time-and-a-half) you would ever want to work.
I'm super lucky to be able to get fiber here. They were running it to a new construction subdivision nearby and I happened to be on the route. One road north or south and I'd be on DSL or Starlink. It's reasonable to assume that those would wash out to costing about the same. I could less than half my current rate on fiber if I went with a slower plan and a data cap, but it's worth it to me.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday October 12 2021, @03:34PM
Found the problem. Switching out my ethernet cable and I get 444M down, 932M up.