[enraged_camel]

>>A $50/month "social network" would be beyond the budget of a large part of the population. Not many people have $600/year to spend on a communications tool.

You do realize many cellphone plans cost that much if not a lot more, right?

[darklajid]

Based on what observations? Around here most people pay half of that as far as I'm aware - and I'm hoping that this number is even lower in low income countries.

Plus, comparing a general internet access & phone plan with a specific online service seems odd. Even if I'd trust you with this number, paying $50 for 'the internet' or paying the same amount for WhatsApp 2.0 doesn't seem direcly comparable.

[enraged_camel]

We were easily paying $100/month for AT&T's "family plan." This was about 8 years ago.

We then switched to T-Mobile's pre-paid plans, which start at $40/month. That's for 3 GB of data. If you want 5 GB, it's $50/month, which comes to $600/year.

[gspetr]

Such outrageous pricing is a US thing.

Another data point to ad to sibling comments citing prices in Europe:

$4.80 monthly in Russia for 250 minutes, 250 SMS and 1GB.

[user5994461]

UK cellphone costs:

£7.50/month = 500 MB data + 250 minutes + unlimited texts

£20/month = unlimited data + unlimited minutes + unlimited texts

[sealjam]

Could you please direct me to the latter deal? I didn't find anything like that when I came to renew my plan.

[user5994461]

https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans

Speed restrictions apply after 6GB of data usage.

[oarsinsync]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hukd-sim-only-thread-cheapes...

[kalleboo]

And the people who can't afford it have cheaper plans, and use mostly WiFi for data

edit: just checked US mobile pricing. Damn you guys are getting ripped off hard

[siscia]

I pay roughly 7$/month for my phone plane here in Italy...

[pmontra]

Me too. 6.05 Euro for 2 hours of voice calls (which I never use fully), 120 SMS (same as before), 2 GB data (anything the tower has up to LTE). I typically use 300 MB of data and some 3 GB of WiFi. Most people won't find those 2 hours of voice calls enough, but voice calls in apps are starting to erode the "real" calls.

[siscia]

Wait, what plans are you on? I pay ~7€ (5 for 1GB of data) and 2€ for accessories such as call and SMS that I seldom use...

[pmontra]

Wind Fresh. They don't sell it anymore, too good for customers.

[baq]

in the US? certainly not in India.