Tradeoffs

I can't help but comparing the prices of things between France and the USA. In particular, I'm shocked by the prices for mobile phone plans and internet/tv/telephone, but for different reasons.

Mobile phones: The mobile phone prices here are really high! Surprisingly so considering how everyone has one, and seems to have had one for much longer than we have in the US. For example, the cheapest plan at Bouygues Telecom is 22 euros per month for a 2-year contract and gives you ... 1 HOUR (yes, 60 minutes) of talking time per MONTH. On the upside, all incoming mobile calls are free, so you only pay for calls that you make. Then there are all these terms about calling other mobiles versus calling landlines ... on the plan I mention above you get free calling to all landline phones from 8pm to midnight. But how much are people calling landline phones from their mobiles? I had a very cheap plan at Verizon in the US, for $35/month I got 400 minutes, plus unlimited nights & weekends plus free calls to all other Verizon members (which was all of my family). And Verizon is one of the more expensive providers (per # of minutes) in the US.

On the flip side...
TV/Internet/Telephone: These 3-in-1 packages are ridiculously cheap here in France. It's absolutely amazing to me. For 30 euros a month you get a digital cable package with a ton of channels, high speed internet AND a landline phone with unlimited calling to other landlines AND (in many cases) to the US and Canada. 30 euros!!! In the US to get internet, phone and digital cable would cost about $130/month (in Washington, DC at least). I guess the cheap cable costs can help you justify the super-high price of buying a TV set here.