One often hears it argued that U.S. consumers already pay the highest prices for mobile data globally. Of course, that statement has to be placed in context. Consider fixed network internet access. A casual glance would suggest that prices vary substantially.
That also would--at first glance--to be the case for mobile data.
Matters are different when one adjusts for differences in general price levels in each country. The cost of living, for example, is highest in North America, Japan and Korea, Australia and New Zealand and Western Europe. Not surprisingly, costs for almost any product are higher in those countries, on a global basis.
However, adjusting for such differences, it turns out that consumer fixed network internet costs, in real terms, are about $50 per month, globally.
Mobile data retail prices, likewise, are lowest, in real terms, in developed nations, including the United States.
Nominal prices are one thing; real prices, adjusted for local cost of living, is something else. In real terms, fixed or mobile internet access costs about the same, most places globally.
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