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Why are phone calls so ridiculously expensive in Europe, particularly land line calls in Britain? What is the US doing so well that Europeans are not?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: There are different regulatory structures and historical backgrounds between the telecommunications systems in these different places. Note that, in general, mobile phones are cheaper in Europe while wire phones are more expensive.

One article (search the database Historical Abstracts) suggests that the government owned telegraph service in Britain tried to limit competition from the fledgling phone companies in the late 19th century, making their development more difficult and expensive. Reformers in the USA pushed to regulate the privately owned telegraph monopoly, Western Union, and there were less restrictions on the development of telephone service and a regulatory environment that forced cheaper rates.