Why Americans Pay More for Slower Internet Than Almost Any Developed Country

South Korea has average home internet speeds of over 250 Mbps and pays roughly $30 per month. France has average speeds above 200 Mbps and pays around $35 per month. The United States has average speeds of 160 Mbps and pays $65 per month.

The US is not a poor country with constrained infrastructure budgets. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita that ranks in the global top ten. The explanation for why Americans pay significantly more for slower internet than citizens of comparable countries is structural, political, and largely intentional.

The monopoly problem

In most developed countries, multiple ISPs share access to the same physical infrastructure under open-access rules. A building wired for fiber can be served by a dozen competing providers, all paying to use the same cables and competing on price and service quality.

In the United States, the dominant model is vertical integration: the company that owns the infrastructure also sells the service, and competitors are excluded. Comcast owns its cables and only Comcast can use them. AT&T owns its fiber network and sets the terms entirely.

This means that in most American markets, there is effectively one or two choices for high-speed internet. When there is no real competition, there is no competitive pressure on price.

The role of local franchise agreements

ISPs in the US operate under franchise agreements with local governments that historically granted them exclusive or near-exclusive rights to serve specific territories. In exchange for infrastructure investment, cities and counties gave cable companies geographic monopolies that have persisted for decades.

The result is that AT&T does not compete with Comcast in most markets. They serve adjacent territories. Each has a de facto monopoly in its area, and both benefit from the arrangement.

Lobbying and regulatory capture

The ISP industry spends more on federal lobbying than almost any other sector in the US economy. Between 2010 and 2024, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and Charter collectively spent over $900 million on federal lobbying, according to OpenSecrets data.

That investment has been effective. Multiple attempts to introduce open-access rules similar to those used in Europe and Asia have been blocked or diluted. The FCC's treatment of broadband as an information service rather than a telecommunications utility — a classification that limits regulatory authority — has been maintained through multiple administrations with the active support of ISP lobbying.

Municipal broadband networks, which in cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee have delivered gigabit internet at competitive prices for over a decade, have been blocked by state legislation in roughly 20 states. Many of those laws were written with direct assistance from ISP lobbyists.

What this means for your bill

If you live in a market with only one realistic option for high-speed internet, your bill is not high because of infrastructure costs or market dynamics. It is high because there is no pressure to lower it.

The practical implication is that negotiation is more important, not less, in monopoly or duopoly markets. If you cannot switch to a competitor, your only leverage is the threat of cancellation and the retention department's willingness to believe it.

Checking whether your current bill is above the average for your state — which our tool does in ten seconds — at least tells you whether you are being charged more than typical customers in similar markets. It is a starting point, not a solution to a structural problem. But knowing where you stand is the first step toward doing anything about it.