--- title: Americans Spend More on Mobile Service Than the Rest of the World description: Americans are spending more for wireless services than users in 17 other countries, according to a new report from UK regulator Ofcom. authors: - name: Jacob Davidson url: https://money.com/author/jacob-davidson/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 106 covers: - Technology - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/JakeD former_staff: true published: '2014-12-15T18:41:25.000Z' modified: '2014-12-15T18:41:25.000Z' section: Technology tags: - Android - cell data - cell phone plans - cell phones - cell service - cellular data - cost of cell service - data plans - data prices - iPhone - wireless service word_count: 296 canonical: https://money.com/wireless-cost-us-world-ofcom/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Person using iPhone at night](https://img.money.com/2014/12/141216_em_amerpaymoremobile1.jpg) Americans are spending more for wireless services than users in 17 other countries, according to a [new report](http://content.money.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/icmr_2014.pdf) from a UK regulator. The 2014 International Market Communications Report, published by the UK's Office of Communications (known as Ofcom), measured the average monthly revenue per mobile connection in 18 different countries across six continents. The report shows that last year, the average mobile customer in the United States paid roughly $47 (£30, in the chart below) per connection, more than cell users in any other nation surveyed. Only Japanese customers paid close to that amount in 2013, while users in most countries had monthly bills of less than $31 for their service. Mobile users in China, Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, Poland, and India paid less than $16 per month. ![Screenshot 2014-12-15 10.30.17](https://img.money.com/2014/12/screenshot-2014-12-15-10-30-171.png) Why are Americans paying so much more for wireless service? One reason is that we tend to use more data than people in other nations. According to [data from Cisco](https://gigaom.com/2014/02/05/cisco-the-u-s-is-officially-in-the-gigabyte-era-of-mobile-data-consumption/), U.S. mobile customers used an average of 1.3 gigabytes of data per month in 2013. In comparison, Europeans used 700 megabytes of data per month—roughly half the American average—and mobile customers in the Middle East and Africa used just 185 megabytes. But while increased data usage might explain the higher prices overall, it's less clear why America is one of the few countries where the cost of wireless service isn't declining. Despite global growth in data use, the United States is one of just five countries Ofcom analyzed (the others are the Netherlands, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, and the U.S.) where revenue per connection isn't declining. Between 2008 and 2013, the average American customer saw wireless bills rise almost 1% per connection. 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