Why Is Broadband More Expensive In The US? The Myth Of American Exceptionalism.

Broadband in the United States costs almost three times as much as in the UK and France and more than five times as much as in South Korea. Does this make America exceptional or more like a second world country?

The price of basic broadband, TV and phone packages – or bundles as they are known – is much higher in American cities than elsewhere, suggests the New America Foundation think tank, which compared hundreds of available packages worldwide.

Looking at some of the cheaper ones available in certain cities, at lower to mid download speeds, San Francisco ($99/£61), New York ($70) and Washington DC ($68) dwarf London ($38), Paris ($35) and Seoul ($15)…

“Americans pay so much because they don’t have a choice,” says Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama on science, technology and innovation policy.

Although there are several national companies, local markets tend to be dominated by just one or two main providers.

We deregulated high-speed internet access 10 years ago and since then we’ve seen enormous consolidation and monopolies, so left to their own devices, companies that supply internet access will charge high prices, because they face neither competition nor oversight.

And Republicans, who have been favoring deregulation since the days of Ronald Reagan, are the same ones who claim to favor marketplace competition.

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