USA carrier prices VS UK/Ireland networks

One thing I have found really interesting recently is the huge prices people have to pay for mobile phone contracts in the US and Canada. Now I haven’t compared other countries but I feel that the US and the UK are similar when it comes to the mobile technology market. I have found and compared four networks altogether, which are Verizon, Orange, AT&T and O2. I have also noticed many similarities between the US companies and the UK ones. Verizon and Orange seem to draw the most similarities as well as O2 and AT&T whom had exclusivity on the iphone when it was first launched (not anymore!).

Now back to prices. From what I have researched the average price for a smart phone in the USA is $199 for the phone on a two year contract, which is usually priced around $50-$80 a month and even with these huge expenditures you’re still not getting a whole lot. Generally in the UK for a smart phone you’re going to pay around £35-£45 a month on a 2 year contract and you will get the phone for free, but with this you will also usually get an unlimited amount of usage on it.

In the picture to the left you’ll notice how I have compared two blackberries, one on Verizon and one on Orange. As well as this you can see a comparison of two iphone 4’s, one on O2 and one on AT&T. AT&T-online charge $199 (£127.59) for an iphone 4. With this you will get an $80 (£51) a month contract which includes 450 minutes (which roll-over), 2GB of data and 1500 text messages. Now on o2, you will get an iphone for £29 ($45) on a 2 year contract. You will be charged £45 ($70) a month and with that you will be given a usage of 1200 minutes, unlimited text, visual voicemail and 750mb of internet (which is all you will ever need). The tariff prices are quite similar but I just can’t understand why a US customer would have to pay so much for the handset when on average for an iphone 4 they will be paying the company $2000 over the two years.

Now if I compare some lower range smart phones like a Blackberry Pearl 3G from Orange and a Blackberry 8350 from Verizon we can see a considerable difference in prices. Again in the US Verizon customers will get the phone for free on an $80 a month contract for two years. It seems that American companies don’t care so much for the talk plan or have specific talk plans for specific handsets like Orange do. A typical US talk plan with around 450 minutes is going to cost you $39.99 then you have to add additional usages such as text messages and internet, which are charged at around $15 extra EACH! On Orange a Blackberry Pearl 3G will generally cost a customer around £25 a month online and give them around 300 minutes, unlimited text and 500mb internet included, PLUS the phone will be free. Can US carriers continue to take their customers for a ride like this? From watching phone news and review videos on YouTube I constantly hear complaints from American customers about the prices and services they’re receiving.

One thing I do know is that we are very lucky with our contract prices in the UK/Ireland. The American customer needs to be extremely careful when choosing a package and a phone. I’m not sure how upgrade customers are treated, but judging by complaints that I’ve heard so far I wouldn’t be surprised if customers in the US are regularly jumping from carrier to carrier with no loyalty at all.

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