As the title says, WiFi could be 50$ per month even though it’s like 100GB whilst a mobile data charge of that cost would get like 5GB of internet?
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Wifi is through a physical connection. There’s a wired connection from your modem, to the provider hub somewhere in your neighbourhood, which connects via wires to the provider. So you’re paying for the convenience of a provider having this infrastructure in place to send a signal that ends at your modem. Because this technology is 30 years old, the charges for this are much lower.
Mobile data operates through cell phone towers & repeaters. The wireless bandwidth is auctioned off each year and companies bid lots of money to own certain spectrum. Just like the first example, you’re paying for the convenience of a company to put in cell towers in an entire country (like the USA), so that you can watch Youtube videos anywhere you please.
So wireless data is more expensive even for the companies to purchase & operate on, but the main reason is profit. 3-5 companies own most of the wireless spectrum in most cities or countries, and can basically charge whatever they want. If you don’t want to go with Provider 1’s mobile data coverage, you can try Provider 2’s mobile data coverage, but there aren’t many providers so your choices are limited. As a result they can charge a lot.
Wireless data coverage & speed has advanced a lot within the last 5-7 years. Eventually it will become as cheap as wired home/business internet. Even 7 years ago, you couldn’t watch most HD youtube videos. Now even in the country, I can watch HD youtube videos without any lag.
So basically, a few companies own the infrastructure & charge a lot for it. It does cost them a lot to even own these wireless frequencies, but obviously a lot of profit is built in.
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