Why are cell phone data plans so expensive in the US?

Could you elaborate on using a cellphone in Europe? I'm going next week for two months and I would like to pick up a burner. Any models of phone or service provider?

Sorry to shite on your thread, but you sound like you may know what's up with European mobiles

So I would have to unlock my att phone to use an euro sim without buying a new phone?

Because the telecoms don't lobby their governments as efficiently as the ones in this country do, thus they actually have to compete.

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Could you elaborate on using a cellphone in Europe? I'm going next week for two months and I would like to pick up a burner. Any models of phone or service provider?

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It really depends on your plan while over there; will you be moving around from country to country? Will you get it primarily to call home? For data?

And yes you will absolutely need an unlocked quad-band GSM (ATT or T-Mobile) phone, but also note that some of the lower end quad band phones operate on different 3g frequencies in the US and in Europe, so will not be able to pick up 3G while roaming internationally. Higher end phones like galaxy and iphone should not have this problem. GSM phones are the only phones that will def work (although certain phones like iPhone are universal "world phones" that will work with any carrier once unlocked).

I do agree with stendulkar that the Moto G is an awesome phone, Im getting one on Tuesday to replace my gs4. However, I dont believe the cheapest model has universal 3g; you would have to choose an international or US model. The same can be said to its less expensive counterpart, the Moto E, which costs $129, which is a good bargain.

An option I may suggest is a dual-Sim phone. These are designed for people that travel, and can operate both a home sim and a local sim simultaneously. In other words, you could drop in your ATT Sim, receive a free incoming text from home to call someone back, and call them back with a local sim at a reduced rate. I just purchased one of these for an upcoming trip that will serve this purpose. IT is not very fancy, and not as high in quality as moto, but I personally like the dual-sim aspect.

If you plan to move around a good bit, like if you are backpacking, stopping in every country to get a SIM can become a pain in the arse, especially if you go with a big group and would be holding them up. The reason being is getting a new SIM from country to country can vary a good deal. In England for instance, you can grab one out of a vending machine in baggage claim, and it will have english instructions on an "add-on" that best suits your needs (usually choose one of, data, better calling/texting locally, or international).

In Italy, you will need to show a passport to register, and I believe Germany is the same way. Its not that it is particularly hard, but may make it more trouble than it is worth considering language barriers, and not getting the exact product you need. On the other hand, if you wil be staying put for extended periods, a local sim is def the way to go.

If you will be bouncing around from day to day, I would suggest a roaming SIM card, which will give you better rates overall than ATT, but will not be quite as good as individual local sims, but will save you the hassle of having to pick them up over there, and constantly be switching them out.

For talk, I recommend onesimcard. Or possibly toggle, although it depends on the countries you visit. If the toggle countries are all the places you will go, I say it is tops.

For data I recommend keepgo.

Once more, you can get some really good deals for international calling and local data with local sims, but it can be tough to decipher the best deal once there, when the information on tariffs is all in a foreign language. These options above may be a bit more expensive, but will save some hassle.

And finally to the OP, I'm a bit out of gas, but in my experience, the US has far and away the best data quality I have encountered, and might factor into the higher bills, although that is clearly not the only factor at play. There is also less competition locally, as even smaller countries like Italy have 4-5 carriers.