Developed World Broadband, Voice Prices are Rising

Given the trend of falling prices for high-speed access and voice that have occurred in most markets over the last decade or two, some might wonder whether there is any end to the trend. The answer, surprisingly, might be "yes," at least for broadband access, and in part for some voice services. 

U.S. broadband access retail prices have been relatively stable since about 2010, including both triple play packages and stand-alone retail prices for broadband access, though speeds for same-price services tend to grow.

But there now are signs that broadband and even voice prices in the U.S. market, and elsewhere in developed markets, are growing, not shrinking.

Cablevision, for example, is boosting prices about $4 a month. Time Warner Cable added about a $5 a month modem rental fee late in 2012. In the United Kingdom, Virgin Media also is raising prices, both for high-speed access and voice services.

In Australia, Optus likewise has hiked prices. In the United Kingdom, BT also is raising prices for broadband access and voice services.

That is a significant difference from what is happening in most other areas of the developing world, where prices for broadband and voice traditionally have been quite high, compared to developed nations.

One might argue that prices in developed markets are growing because upgrades of networks to support hundreds of megabits up to 1-Gbps speeds now are happening, with the resultant need to boost prices for those features.

By some studies, developed nation prices already were quite low, measured in local terms as a percentage of income.