Re:No-contract $30 / $45 Straight Talk wireless plans storm ...
by jacquesm on Friday October 16, 2009 @11:05AM
(#885485)
That's not even the whole story, in the US people routinely pay for 'airtime', in other words you pay too when you are being called. In Europe that usually only happens when you are abroad.
As to your question, given that infrastructure is a fixed cost that can be amortized over more calls as call volume goes up (there are very few bits/second involved in a phone conversation, once you hit the tower nearest you the cost of a single conversation is very small) my guess is that price gouging is a huge factor here.
For even more fun think about what it costs to handle an SMS and compare that with the amounts paid.
Telcos are great at selling bits at ridiculous markups.
As to your question, given that infrastructure is a fixed cost that can be amortized over more calls as call volume goes up (there are very few bits/second involved in a phone conversation, once you hit the tower nearest you the cost of a single conversation is very small) my guess is that price gouging is a huge factor here.
For even more fun think about what it costs to handle an SMS and compare that with the amounts paid.
Telcos are great at selling bits at ridiculous markups.