Quick nitpick, it's primarily 4g, not 3g. But in general, lots of things in the developed world cost multiple times what they cost in the developing world, especially things whose cost is tied to local labor costs.
I'm guessing the biggest cost of building and maintaining mobile data infrastructure is the labor, and physical and intellectual labor in India is just way cheaper on average than in the US.
Historically, though, the US carriers have operated in way that makes it harder for customers to switch between carriers (carrier-specific-frequency tied phones, contracts). Some argue that this is a natural technical outcome of covering an area as vast as the US, and others say this is deliberate collusion. Either way, MVNOs that disintermediate this seem like a healthy stimulus for competition in the US mobile data marketplace, and perhaps they will be able to reduce the cost/GB in the US.
I'm guessing the biggest cost of building and maintaining mobile data infrastructure is the labor, and physical and intellectual labor in India is just way cheaper on average than in the US.
Historically, though, the US carriers have operated in way that makes it harder for customers to switch between carriers (carrier-specific-frequency tied phones, contracts). Some argue that this is a natural technical outcome of covering an area as vast as the US, and others say this is deliberate collusion. Either way, MVNOs that disintermediate this seem like a healthy stimulus for competition in the US mobile data marketplace, and perhaps they will be able to reduce the cost/GB in the US.
EDIT: wording