Internet access sort of has a reason: the US is geographically huge and more sprawled out. But that's not enough to explain all of the difference.

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stefanfisk 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That’s not the reason. The required build out has actually already been been paid for: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5.... But the US is so politically broken that corporations could just pocket the money without actually providing the infrastructure.

That does even begin to touch on crazy laws banning people from setting up their own ISP to compete: https://www.techdirt.com/2024/11/07/16-u-s-states-still-ban-....

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Ekaros 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That really explains only small parts. Even the horrible suburbs have little real reason to be that expensive. In the end it is really about lacking actual free market and enabling corporate capture as voted by the voters.

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alistairSH 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That might explain internet pricing in North Dakota, but it doesn't explain it in NYC or DC or LA.

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joenot443 15 hours ago | parent [-]

I pay $40/mo for 500mbps in my Bushwick apartment - is that considered expensive?

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alistairSH 14 hours ago | parent [-]

By US standards? No, probably not.

But, a quick search indicates you can get similar broadband in Glasgow, Scotland for ~15 GBP/month. And Rome, Italy looks like ~25EUR/month.

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stefanfisk 14 hours ago | parent [-]

I’m in Stockholm, and our condo HOA (BRF) includes 1Gbps per unit in the fee for all units because billing individually would cost more in admin than the service itself. We have FTTP and then cat6 to each unit.

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joenot443 10 hours ago | parent [-]

That sounds really convenient! Is it a new building? I know the odd American or Canadian build will have that, but only the newer and more expensive ones.

	▲	stefanfisk 8 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The building is from the 1940s. But this is a pretty common setup for condos in Swedish cities. Rentals usually have access to the same infrastructure but at higher prices due to kickbacks demanded by the landlords from the ISPs. The backbone of it all is a state owned fiber connecting the cities together with municipal fiber. But even outside of the cities FTTP is quite common. There are companies which specialize in finding rural areas where there’s enough interest to justify the cost of connecting them and then coordinating getting an economic association setup to own and manage the local infrastructure.
	▲	Hikikomori 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I had that in Sweden 20 years ago. Typically our local municipality put fiber whenever they dug up anything, so fiber is everywhere.