Mum's internet

[Lucian]

I'm currently visiting motherland (finally, after 2y) and noticed my pensioner mum in random small town Romania has got 100 Mbps full duplex*. This + TV for £10/m. It's the same speed and similar price I was paying in Bucharest ~15y ago.
Here you could get 500 Mbps for £5 or 1Gbps for £7....

This gets to me every time and it's such a cause for disappointment when I return "home" to UK to my laggy 5G..

* Small PPPoE penalty

 

[The Wee Bear]

I'm currently visiting motherland (finally, after 2y) and noticed my pensioner mum in random small town Romania has got 100 Mbps full duplex*. This + TV for £10/m. It's the same speed and similar price I was paying in Bucharest ~15y ago.
Here you could get 500 Mbps for £5 or 1Gbps for £7....

This gets to me every time and it's such a cause for disappointment when I return "home" to UK to my laggy 5G..

* Small PPPoE penalty

Aw brill Lucian, enjoy your special visit, and don't forget to turn green with envious memories when you return to Blighty.

 

[Bubblesthefish6]

I'm currently visiting motherland (finally, after 2y) and noticed my pensioner mum in random small town Romania has got 100 Mbps full duplex*. This + TV for £10/m. It's the same speed and similar price I was paying in Bucharest ~15y ago.
Here you could get 500 Mbps for £5 or 1Gbps for £7....

This gets to me every time and it's such a cause for disappointment when I return "home" to UK to my laggy 5G..

* Small PPPoE penalty

It’s such a shame £11 for 50 meg is considered an ace deal here. Just proves a point really.

 

[Lucian]

There's much more to it than just dropping prices surely.... I can't imagine getting a living wage working for an ISP in the UK with prices that low.

Of yeah, the wages would be very much Eastern Europe style. Minimum wage here is about £400, so you'd be looking at a range between that and no more than £1500 probably...
But surely even in UK a more balanced pricing could be found if there was less greed and even if prices stayed the same it's just the general state of things and lack of coverage.

 

[Mark.J]

It's never easy to do an apples-to-apples country comparison as there can be so many differences between approaches, economics and types of living that any simplification will usually be wrong.

For example, the UK has some of the highest individual housing ownership across Europe, while in the EU many states have dramatically more MDU/flats/apartment occupancy. The latter is much easier, faster and cheaper to connect. Housing is the opposite.

Ignoring the obvious socio-economic differences between Romania and the UK, the former is also one of the most advanced countries in terms of FTTP coverage (around 75% of premises have access). In my experience, once full fibre coverage reaches that sort of level, particularly if it's a competitive market, then prices tend to fall.

I see plenty of scope for competition to drive down prices as the market matures in the UK too, but we're still a few years away from that. However, Openreach's latest discount offer is a good example of how that wheel is already turning. But as Jittery correctly alludes, we'll probably never be as cheap as Romania, until their economy reaches a more comparable level.

 

[Lucian]

Oh for crying out loud, they're now preparing 2.5 and 10 Gbps (symmetrical) offerings (£10)...

https://www-nwradu-ro.translate.goo...auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=nui

 

[The Wee Bear]

Oh for crying out loud, they're now preparing 2.5 and 10 Gbps (symmetrical) offerings (£10)...

https://www-nwradu-ro.translate.goo...auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=nui

Oh you'll not be wanting to leave now Lucian. Unbelievably amazing.