Yet another report shows that the United States pays more for their broadband than most other countries.
A recent report from Compare The Market, a U.K.-based price comparison site, found that the U.S. ranks 9th in the world for most expensive broadband. The U.S. was comparable to Iceland, which placed just above the U.S., and Guatemala, which ranked just below the U.S.
Overall, Compare The Market ranked 110 countries. Ukraine had the cheapest broadband, with Russia having the second cheapest. Ethiopia had the most expensive broadband, followed by the United Arab Emirates.
The findings for the U.S. track with other recent studies that have found that Americans are clearly not enamored with the price or speeds of their internet. Recent polls and surveys paint a bleak picture of how Americans feel about their internet service.
In September, Pew Research Center published "The Internet and the Pandemic," which found that just over a quarter of those polled—26%—said they were worried about being able to pay their internet bills over the next few months. Almost the same amount, 24%, said the same about their smartphone bills.
Meanwhile, over the summer, Consumer Reports released a survey that found that nearly half of Americans were "dissatisfied" to some degree about the price they were paying for their internet service. The survey found that 27% of people were “somewhat dissatisfied,” 10% were “very dissatisfied,” and 5% were “completely dissatisfied.”
That same survey also found that just over 21% of those polled said it was "somewhat difficult" to afford their monthly internet bills.
But it is not just the price that is irking Americans—it's the ISPs themselves.
In May, Mozilla—the tech company behind the Firefox browser and long-time supporter of net neutrality—found that more than half of consumers didn't trust that ISPs were looking out for their best interests.
The reasoning for such expensive prices and bleak attitudes are numerous. Predominantly, however, Americans don't have a choice of provider when they buy internet service, meaning the company has little competition to drive down prices or provide better service.
The post Consumers in the U.S. are paying more for broadband than almost anywhere else in the world appeared first on The Daily Dot.
0 Commentaires