That's because we don't have competition in North America, we only have the appearance of competition, but it is in fact covering up what we really have which is collusion.
Wow, it seems like you guys in the US really get stung on your phone bill.
I have a SIM-only deal with Three in the UK. Rolling monthly contract, so if I'm not happy I can just cancel with 1 month's notice. 2,000 outgoing minutes IIRC; unlike most of the US, receiving calls costs nothing here; as much data as I can use without any limit; when Three start rolling out 4G, I'll be able to use it without any additional cost.
Straight Talk (unlocked AT&T iPhone 4s)
4G LTE service (using the new SIM card just released)
2gb Data (They say unlimited, yeah right...)
Unlimited Talk
Unlimited Text
$50.15/mo per phone including all taxes
7,5 (about 10 USD)
1000 minutes
1000 messages
unlimited data (will be cut to 64kbit after 1GB of download, i can easy upgrade to 4GB with just 6 more)
Plan: T-Mobile 4G prepaid, $30 web-only, no-contract. 100 minutes talk, unlimited text, unlimited data (first 5GB at 4G/LTE speeds). Additional talk time is ten cents/minute, but I've never used it. (Disclaimer: I'm a Google Voice user.)
wizz's plan (above) pretty much illustrates why American cellular companies suck large rocks, even if you account for non-subsidized handset pricing.