Fed up with only having AT&T (NYSE: T) to choose from if you want the iPhone in the U.S., many consumers can’t wait until Verizon or another carrier gets a hold of the device. But if you look at the UK, where nearly all of the carriers are now selling the iPhone, not a lot has changed since O2’s exclusivity expired in November.

There’s two noticeable trends: First, increased competition has not translated into lower prices. In fact, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), which will start offering the iPhone next year, is charging more over the life of a contract than any other UK operator. Second, the competition has not led to better network coverage. Similar to AT&T, O2’s iPhone users have suffered from many network meltdowns, including one as recently as this weekend in which users had absolutely no data service.

Ernest Doku, who works at the phone-comparison site Omio, told the Telegraph: “Consumers who were hoping that with four networks vying for a share of the iPhone market that a price war would ensue, are likely to be disappointed, particularly those who have been holding out for Vodafone’s announcement in the hope of picking up a New Year bargain.”

Vodafone started taking orders for the iPhone today in advance of is Jan. 14 release. The Telegraph reported that Vodafone’s offer will be more expensive over the lifetime of the device than any other UK carrier. When signing up for an 18-month contract, the iPhone will cost $143 (£89), and the contract will cost $64 (£40) a month, for a total of $1,300 (£809). O2 and Orange, which roughly offer the same options, are cheaper: A 16GB iPhone 3GS on O2’s cost $47 (£29.38) per month for a total of $1,144 (£713.82) over 18 months, including $287 (£184.98) for the phone. Even cheaper is the supermarket giant Tesco, which started selling the iPhone last week.

Of course, consumers may factor more than cost in the purchase of their phone, which is likely why carriers aren’t feeling the pressure to compete over price. O2’s network has suffered frequent crashes in recent months, leaving users unable to make or receive calls or surf the internet. If O2 customers would like leave for Vodafone, they’ll have to pay for it.

With the UK leading by example, you could imagine a scenario in the U.S., where AT&T’s exclusivity expires, but the changes are disappointing. When a second or third U.S. carrier starts selling the iPhone, they will likely charge more (and I’m not just saying that because Vodafone owns roughly half of Verizon Wireless). Just look at everything that AT&T has had to endure for a reason why. AT&T has been paying steep subsidies in order to sell more iPhones. The cost has hit AT&T’s margins and has overloaded its network. Now AT&T faces investing millions in its network to keep up, and yet, won’t see profits from its iPhone users for some time. If AT&T users are really fed-up, they’ll likely have to pay a lot to switch (not even including, the cost of a device if the one they were using on AT&T’s network is not compatible on the next).

The same thing was true in Europe. Operators were subsidizing the iPhone by an average of 300 euros per device, while additional revenues from the iPhone were only around 10 euros a month. That meant a customer must be held for over 2.6 years to recoup the subsidy. Operators have also had to deal with the exploding network costs that the additional traffic brings. The subsidies were bearably when a carrier had the exclusivity, now that those are fading, carriers will price based on the market reality.