I’ve regularly heard that U.S. broadband prices are a lot higher than European prices. I found a way to check this when I ran across this article from ISPreview that has a long list of gigabit broadband prices across the UK.
The article includes the listed prices for 41 British ISPs for 2022, 2023, and current 2025 prices. This is not an exhaustive list and there are 140 ISPs in the UK that offer gigabit broadband today. The list includes the ISPs that ISPreview has been tracking since 2022.
The article includes only residential broadband prices. The ISPs use either hybrid fibre coax for cable companies or fibre. (notice the British spelling of fiber). The ISPs range from large to small, and urban and rural. The list includes nonprofit community ISPs, open-access ISPs, and commercial ISPs.
The prices in the article include the VAT (value added tax), which is administered the same as a sales tax. The VAT on broadband in the UK is 20%, so the ISPs only collect 80% of the prices shown, with the 20% going to the government.
Just like in the U.S., ISPs in the UK often have specials and promotions and sell broadband for less than the lost prices. Some of the prices in the article’s list show both the regular and the promotional prices.
The average list price for the UK ISPs in 2025 is £50.9, which is $67.70 in current dollars. Because of the VAT, ISPs only collect the equivalent of $56.42 today.
The main point of the article is that list prices have been dropping. Twenty-three ISPs on the list have lower list prices in 2025 compared to 2022. Twelve ISPs have higher prices. The rest have the same price as 2022. Overall, the average price in pounds dropped from £56.68 in 2022 to £50.9 today, an average drop in dollars of $7.68. The authors of the article found this drop to be extraordinary considering the inflation over the period and attributed the dropping prices to competition.
How do the UK list prices compare to U.S. list gigabit prices in 2025? The following table shows the list prices for gigabit broadband from some of the largest ISPs in the country. I got these prices from broadband labels. In some cases the U.S. prices include extra fees that are part of mandatory billing.
This list of large U.S. ISPs has an average monthly list price rate of $93.87 in 2025. Many of these ISPs have far lower promotional rates for new subscribers, such as the new $70 gigabit offered by Comcast that’s guaranteed for five years. However, it’s still eye-opening to compare the average list price in the U.S. of $93.97 to the list average list price in the UK of $67.70, which is only $56.42 after removing the VAT tax. British gigabit list prices are 40% less expensive than U.S. gigabit broadband.
You recently wrote about FWA internet. We recently switched from cable modem service at $60 per month to FWA at $30 per month. I just did a speed test and found a download speed of 179 Mbps and an upload speed of 4.3 Mbps. While not Gpbs, these are perfectly adequate for our needs. And, it’s quite a change from the home brewed 300 bps modem I built in the 1970s.
We find a similar scenario. Sure gigabit is nice, so is 10Gbps, but practically speaking most people can’t really tell the difference above 50-100Mbps. Some can, and it’s great to have premium services available to the few that want/need it.
One of the issues I feel that we are going through is that the demand of dirt cheap gigabit has narrowed the number of locations that adequate service can be delivered. Because the cost to deliver 1Gbps is so much higher, fewer locations can be served. The more far flung the location, the more it costs, and so the fewer can be served on the same dollar. Very basic math should get this point across.
The UK vs US argument lines up here. More of the UK has >=50Mbps but the average in the US is 3-4x higher because of the 1-8Gbps services being in that mix. And the price in the UK is somewhat lower. Worth pointing out the incredible difference in coverage area and population density between the US and UK reflecting in the price also.