Gird up for the Hustings

The Dollar in your pocket.

Strange, but us Brits look at America and generally suffer a touch of the green eyed monster. You see, when electrical items reach these shores, they generally cost us about the same in Pounds Sterling as my Merkin yeomen would pay in Dollars. (Note 1) That kind of mark up has always rankled, but I was prepared to accept that America had economies of scale, it had a free and open market with plenty of competition and that entrepreneurs ensuring that prices were driven down. In fact, when they opened up the British Telephone market, everyone pointed to the American market as a wonderful example of how competition kept prices down.

Strange, but it seems that somehow the American telephone market no longer seems to be a shing example to hold up to the world.

I believe my Merkin cousins have an election coming up. If you want to stir things up a bit, send your candidates this URL - and ask them why you are paying $50 a month for broadband.

In the UK, you won’t find an entry broadband package costing over £20 ($37) a month – most are a lot cheaper. Some, like the Talk Talk offer broadband for free. Our main cable operator, NTL. offers broadband plus telephone at £25 ($47) a month.

Now my rather cynical mind suggests that US phone customers are being ripped off. I’m tempted to speculate why?

Could it be that all your telephone entrepreneurs are in jail? (Note 2).

Or could it be that your telephone companies are trying to freeze out the competition Voice over the Internet services such as Skype.

Whatever it is, my Merkin Yeomen are being ripped off. I suggest that you do something about it. Make it election issue. Circulate this article to as many of your friends as you can. You are being ripped off. If Britain can offer a broadband service on equipment costing the same in pounds sterling as they cost in Dollars in America – something is horribly, horribly awry in the US telephone market.

From 14th June, the industry standard Crozzy Standard has been applied to footnotes.

NOTE 1 : As the current exchange rate is around $1.88 to the pound, that is a huge mark up by the time the goods reach our green and pleasant land. Click to return

NOTE 2 : Personally, I hope that Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan are forever dropping the soap in the communal prison showers. Click to return

TECHNORATI TAGS : Trivia ; Broadband ; VOIP ; Life ; red1hols.