Comparing Carriers: Mobile Phone Usage and Costs is the headline on the chart at right from the Billshrink economy blog. Cell phone connection bills in the Boston area average $104 a month. Here it is at a readable size.

Meanwhile, Mike Elgan at PC World calls out the phone companies: 10 Things We Hate About Wireless Carriers: "The companies that provide cell phone voice and data make their billions by cheating. They must be stopped."

1. You overcharge for service A recent survey by Nielsen found that low prices for wireless service is the No. 1 thing customers want from carriers. Yet this is exactly what U.S. customers aren't getting. According to a new survey from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. is in the top three most expensive countries for wireless service worldwide (Canada and Spain are the others). According to the report, Americans pay an average of $635.85 per year for cell phone service (compared with $131.44 per year in the Netherlands). Why do Americans pay five times more for cell phone service than the Dutch?

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10. You've forgotten that we own the airwaves

Cell phone carriers have rights, too. They own the towers and the servers that make wireless voice and data connectivity possible. They have the right to use their capital as they please, charge what they like and offer whatever combination of prices and services that the market will bear.

But all that equipment is useless without access to the airwaves, which are by law owned by the people. And that's what makes the wireless carriers business different from other industries. Companies that are granted licenses to use the publicly owned airwaves should be required by our government to meet certain standards of fairness, equal access and competitiveness. That's not happening right now. It's time to let your state and national politicians know that you want this industry reined in.

I've been test-driving the latest model of a hot smartphone -- you'll read my review soon -- and the only thing stopping me from signing up is whether it's worth siphoning about $100 a month from my salary to pay for it. The Google Maps app was mighty handy when I needed to find a funeral home on the road, and the games relieved the 12-year-old's boredom during a long wait for food at a restaurant. It posts photos it takes to Facebook, and I can blog with it.

At European prices, I'd be there. Not such an easy decision at American prices in these uncertain times.