--- title: "Report: Americans Paying Way Too Much for LTE data access" id: "13900" type: "post" slug: "report-americans-paying-way-too-much-for-lte-data-access" published_at: "2012-10-17T20:15:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T19:21:56+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/17/report-americans-paying-way-too-much-for-lte-data-access/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/17/report-americans-paying-way-too-much-for-lte-data-access.md" excerpt: "According to a study by the GSM Association, Americans pay as much as ten times more for 4G LTE data access than Europeans do." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Communications" - "costs" - "mobile data" - "Technology" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Report: Americans Paying Way Too Much for LTE data access Trying to download a big file on your iPad? It’ll cost ya. Even though the United States is the biggest market for LTE data access, Americans pay significantly more to use it, according to a study by the GSM Association [cited by The New York Times (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/technology/americans-paying-more-for-lte-service.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all) . How much more? Well, in the U.S., Verizon Wireless charges about $7.50 per gigabyte of data downloaded from its LTE network. In Europe, the average is just $2.50 per GB — and in Sweden, you can download a GB of data for as little as 63 cents. The reasons for the cost difference include: - **Consumer choice:** Until July, only two major providers in the U.S. — AT&T and Verizon — offered LTE connectivity. For years, Verizon had the market to itself. Other companies, including Sprint, are working on building out an LTE-based infrastructure, but the diversity of options is still small compared with Europe, where 38 of the 88 mobile operators offer LTE service. The added competition keeps prices down. - **Maturity of data plans:** The U.S. is behind the times as far as moving away from unlimited data access, and it’s leading to higher prices. Costs are much cheaper in Europe because they moved away from the unlimited model two years ago. - **Bundling:** In Europe, LTE access is purchased separately from voice and text plans. But in the U.S., these items are sold together — with data often being the factor driving the price up. Verizon, in response to the study, emphasizes that the plan used for comparison’s sake included unlimited voice and data, and the cost would fall to $5.50 per GB on a data-only plan — still more than in Europe but cheaper than Verizon’s rate cited in the study. Finding mobile data to be too expensive for your association’s taste? What have you done to rein it in? Let us know in the comments. [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Communications](https://associationsnow.com/tag/communications/) [#costs](https://associationsnow.com/tag/costs/) [#mobile data](https://associationsnow.com/tag/mobile-data/) [#Technology](https://associationsnow.com/tag/technology/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoThe Future is Yours to Create. Attend MMC+T 2025!April 2, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/04/02/the-future-is-yours-to-create-attend-mmct-2025/) - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-american-speech-language-hearing-association/) - [VideoThe Career Moves Every Association Leader Needs Right NowSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/the-career-moves-every-association-leader-needs-right-now/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2012%2F10%2F17%2Freport-americans-paying-way-too-much-for-lte-data-access%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !