You said $115 is on the pricier side and linked to promotional offers to show that a cheaper option exists in some contexts.
I’ve said this three times now. $40 for Internet was not a promotional rate.
Please read the terms and conditions you yourself shared. You’ll notice they mention internet AND a voice line.
So yes, $40 for both is a promotional rate.
But $40/month for the Internet is their standard rate. You can confirm this by scrolling down to their to table for renewal prices. 3 month renewal is $50/month, 6 month is $45/month, and 1 year is $40/month. If you want things to be crystal clear, keep scrolling to the broadband facts section. You’ll see that $40/month for the 3 month stint is an introductory price. But $45 for 6 month and $40 for the 1 year plan very explicitly states it’s not an introductory price.
I don’t think we can proceed until we agree on this.
Did you know that if your Internet bill is $60, and your phone bill is $55, that you now have monthly costs for phone and Internet of … $115?
I linked 3 separate MVNOs across multiple carriers with nationwide coverage that have unlimited plans at $30.
If you’re paying a $55 phone bill it’s your choice to do so, there are far more affordable options. We’re not scrimping here either, these are unlimited plans. If you did want to save, you can get even cheaper capped plans.
You’re getting really hung up on mints pricing and ignoring the main thrust of what’s being said: the average price is significantly higher than the low tier your referenced. Mobile hotspot Internet is not an even comparison to most other broadband options.
Repeatedly stating their price doesn’t change that it’s not reflective of the actual average prices people are charged for Internet and cell service in the US, and that $115 isn’t “on the pricier side”.
Do you think the majority of the people in the country are looking at their diverse options of equal and viable options for cellular and Internet service and then picking things that are more expensive for no reason?
I’m getting hung up on it because you opened with copy/pasting all of the terms and conditions, and vaguely hand waivey implied that meant I was relying on a promotional rate to make my point. I stated it wasn’t a promotional rate multiple times, but nothing seemed to stick. Now that I hopefully made it crystal clear, you’re just redirecting.
To be frank, I have better things to do than to get into an internet argument with someone who refuses to acknowledge if they were wrong. Behavior like that, coupled with petty things like down voting all replies suggests someone doesn’t actually want to have a conversation, but instead just wants to megaphone their opinions. Which category do you want to be in? Because if it’s the latter, once again, it’s not worth my time. If it’s the former, we can talk about the nuances between average prices of offered plans vs average prices paid by consumers.
I may as well call you fixating on the promotional pricing nit a redirection from you being unable to admit you were wrong about what the average cost of cellular and Internet in the US is.
If we’re being crystal clear, you also called it a promotion, their website called it a promotion and made it explicit that they were discounting the Internet plan and that the introductory rate expired.
Yes, their promotion is to discount their introductory rate by the cost of a phone line when you sign up for a phone line too.
It still has no bearing on what typical Internet prices are, which was what the person was asking in the first place.
I may as well call you fixating on the promotional pricing nit a redirection from you being unable to admit you were wrong about what the average cost of cellular and Internet in the US is.
It was an edit, so understandable that you missed it, but I did add to my last comment that fwiw I did agree with you that we should also look at averages.
If we’re being crystal clear, you also called it a promotion, their website called it a promotion and made it explicit that they were discounting the Internet plan and that the introductory rate expired.
Let’s play a game. Can you tell me what their non-promotional rate for internet is? If it’s within the $40-$50 range I provided, you’ll owe me a dollar?
So here are my thoughts on averages - the article you linked arrived at its number by looking at the average price of plans offered. IMO that doesn’t capture “affordability”, because it doesn’t make sense that adding Kanye Wests new ISP offering a 5gbps gold-plated modem equipment rental tier for $2k/month should impact “affordability”. What would really be helpful is the the average, most affordable internet plans offered around the nation. I couldn’t find that, though as a close second I did find surveys suggesting that the average American pays $89(again, there’s a difference between average plan offered and average amount paid), which blows my mind.
That got me thinking, what does the average American pay for cell phone service? Most reporting I found covers what the average bill is, which ignores number of lines - a crucial statistic. However, this article refers to a JD power report saying the average cell bill is $144. Hard to contextualize this without knowing how many lines that sum represents.
Earlier, you asked if I think the vast majority of Americans are picking more expensive choices for no reason. I actually do - and I have two pieces of evidence that led me to that conclusion.
The average price paid for internet ($89, according to the study I linked) is higher than the average cost of internet plans offered ($60s-70, I think, based on the article you linked). This suggests that the average American is heavy on consumption and makes the choice to go with the more expensive plans even though cheaper plans are offered.
This second point is, to me, the most telling data point. In the cell phone service article, we were unsure about how many lines the average of $144 represented. However in the same breath. JD power also said that by switching to an MVNO, the average bill was halved - going down to $77, presumably a study done under the same conditions as their previous, name-brand carrier study. Here we have clear insight. The name-brand carriers and MVNOs have exactly the same availability - MVNOs literally run on the same networks. In theory there’s some issues like you might get deprioritized if there’s a lot of network traffic, but that rarely happens, and I’m sure most Americans couldn’t even tell you what deprioritized means. I’m going to suggest that MVNOs offer basically equivalent service to the brand name carriers. If they do, then why are Americans paying double for the brand-name carriers? I’d suggest it generally falls down to incumbent advantage. People not doing their homework on what carrier to use, or not wanting to make the switch due to potential hassle.
So yeah, I think people do pay more than they could, for no reason. So while the average costs might be high, that is at least partially due to overconsumption or market inefficiencies, and not necessarily due to lack of affordability. This is why when answering someone asking about affordability, it’s good to share cheap, nationwide plans in addition to the average costs for said items.
I’ve said this three times now. $40 for Internet was not a promotional rate.
Please read the terms and conditions you yourself shared. You’ll notice they mention internet AND a voice line.
So yes, $40 for both is a promotional rate.
But $40/month for the Internet is their standard rate. You can confirm this by scrolling down to their to table for renewal prices. 3 month renewal is $50/month, 6 month is $45/month, and 1 year is $40/month. If you want things to be crystal clear, keep scrolling to the broadband facts section. You’ll see that $40/month for the 3 month stint is an introductory price. But $45 for 6 month and $40 for the 1 year plan very explicitly states it’s not an introductory price.
I don’t think we can proceed until we agree on this.
I linked 3 separate MVNOs across multiple carriers with nationwide coverage that have unlimited plans at $30.
If you’re paying a $55 phone bill it’s your choice to do so, there are far more affordable options. We’re not scrimping here either, these are unlimited plans. If you did want to save, you can get even cheaper capped plans.
You’re getting really hung up on mints pricing and ignoring the main thrust of what’s being said: the average price is significantly higher than the low tier your referenced. Mobile hotspot Internet is not an even comparison to most other broadband options.
Repeatedly stating their price doesn’t change that it’s not reflective of the actual average prices people are charged for Internet and cell service in the US, and that $115 isn’t “on the pricier side”.
Do you think the majority of the people in the country are looking at their diverse options of equal and viable options for cellular and Internet service and then picking things that are more expensive for no reason?
I’m getting hung up on it because you opened with copy/pasting all of the terms and conditions, and vaguely hand waivey implied that meant I was relying on a promotional rate to make my point. I stated it wasn’t a promotional rate multiple times, but nothing seemed to stick. Now that I hopefully made it crystal clear, you’re just redirecting.
To be frank, I have better things to do than to get into an internet argument with someone who refuses to acknowledge if they were wrong. Behavior like that, coupled with petty things like down voting all replies suggests someone doesn’t actually want to have a conversation, but instead just wants to megaphone their opinions. Which category do you want to be in? Because if it’s the latter, once again, it’s not worth my time. If it’s the former, we can talk about the nuances between average prices of offered plans vs average prices paid by consumers.
EDIT: fwiw, I do agree with you on averages.
For Pete’s sake, it’s not a redirection to say something I’ve been saying the entire time:
I may as well call you fixating on the promotional pricing nit a redirection from you being unable to admit you were wrong about what the average cost of cellular and Internet in the US is.
If we’re being crystal clear, you also called it a promotion, their website called it a promotion and made it explicit that they were discounting the Internet plan and that the introductory rate expired.
Yes, their promotion is to discount their introductory rate by the cost of a phone line when you sign up for a phone line too.
It still has no bearing on what typical Internet prices are, which was what the person was asking in the first place.
It was an edit, so understandable that you missed it, but I did add to my last comment that fwiw I did agree with you that we should also look at averages.
Let’s play a game. Can you tell me what their non-promotional rate for internet is? If it’s within the $40-$50 range I provided, you’ll owe me a dollar?
So here are my thoughts on averages - the article you linked arrived at its number by looking at the average price of plans offered. IMO that doesn’t capture “affordability”, because it doesn’t make sense that adding Kanye Wests new ISP offering a 5gbps gold-plated modem equipment rental tier for $2k/month should impact “affordability”. What would really be helpful is the the average, most affordable internet plans offered around the nation. I couldn’t find that, though as a close second I did find surveys suggesting that the average American pays $89(again, there’s a difference between average plan offered and average amount paid), which blows my mind.
That got me thinking, what does the average American pay for cell phone service? Most reporting I found covers what the average bill is, which ignores number of lines - a crucial statistic. However, this article refers to a JD power report saying the average cell bill is $144. Hard to contextualize this without knowing how many lines that sum represents.
Earlier, you asked if I think the vast majority of Americans are picking more expensive choices for no reason. I actually do - and I have two pieces of evidence that led me to that conclusion.
So yeah, I think people do pay more than they could, for no reason. So while the average costs might be high, that is at least partially due to overconsumption or market inefficiencies, and not necessarily due to lack of affordability. This is why when answering someone asking about affordability, it’s good to share cheap, nationwide plans in addition to the average costs for said items.