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UK Ranks 63rd Cheapest in the World for Broadband Internet Connectivity

Tuesday, Nov 21st, 2017 (10:05 am) - Score 11,195

A new study has examined the price of fixed line broadband in 196 countries via 3,351 packages (conducted between 18th August and 12th October 2017), which reveals that the United Kingdom is only the 63rd cheapest (average of USD $40.62 a month overall or $1.01 per megabit of speed).

The research, which was jointly conducted by Cable.co.uk and BDRC Continental, found that Iran offers the world’s cheapest broadband, with an average monthly cost of $5.37. However, this should be factored against Iran’s average cost per month per megabit of speed being $4.58, which means that you’d pay quite a bit for faster connectivity but plenty of other country’s charge more.

Speaking of charging more, the most expensive country for broadband was found to be Burkina Faso, where the average monthly price is a staggering $961.14 and the cost per megabit of speed is $84.95! Take note that you may see some variations in the figures when others report on this study because the ranking uses real-time currency fluctuations, which will shift the figures about.

Happily the UK itself fairs better when compared exclusively with other countries in Western Europe, where Italy is the cheapest with an average package price of $28.89 per month, followed by Germany ($34.07), Denmark ($35.90) and France ($36.34). In this region the UK is 8th cheapest out of 28 countries.

Meanwhile, in North America, we find that Canada offers the cheapest broadband on average ($54.92), coming in 21 positions ahead of the United States globally ($66.17). Bermuda provides the most expensive packages in the region with an average price of $126.80 per month.

The data is very interesting and useful, although as usual we have to point out a few caveats. The first problem is that nobody appears to have defined what “broadband” should constitute in the research, which is quite important since otherwise you could easily have narrowband style speeds being included into the same service type. In the UK Ofcom defines standard broadband as starting at 2Mbps.

The next problem is that such analysis would struggle to accurately reflect the “value” aspect of each package, which is often dependent on the capabilities of a given service’s underlying technology and any included extras (e.g. routers, WiFi hotspot access, cloud storage, TV / video content etc.) or usage allowances. This is important because such features can have a huge impact on the price you pay.

The study could do with reflecting cost using Purchasing Power Parity, which is what Point Topic does. However, with all that in mind, here’s the table (correct for currency rates at the time of extraction):

Rank Name Packages measured Average cost of broadband (Per month in USD) Average cost of broadband (Per megabit per month in USD)
1 Iran 34 $5.37 $6.67
2 Ukraine 17 $5.51 $0.07
3 Russian Federation 29 $9.89 $0.36
4 Moldova 12 $10.81 $0.26
5 Syria 41 $12.15 $4.25
6 Egypt 37 $12.41 $5.08
7 Belarus 24 $12.77 $1.18
8 Romania 23 $13.44 $0.59
9 Kazakhstan 32 $13.65 $7.67
10 Georgia 26 $16.71 $1.86
11 Serbia 38 $18.67 $1.59
12 Nepal 34 $18.94 $6.73
13 Poland 41 $18.95 $0.21
14 Tajikistan 21 $19.30 $25.15
15 Latvia 18 $19.50 $0.33
16 Tunisia 40 $19.46 $1.16
17 Sri Lanka 7 $20.15 $8.62
18 Israel 30 $20.55 $0.88
19 Saint-Martin (France) 3 $20.72 $0.54
20 Slovakia 35 $21.89 $0.74
21 Mongolia 25 $22.12 $3.77
22 Yemen 5 $22.67 $21.00
23 Hungary 24 $24.37 $0.79
24 Uzbekistan 40 $25.06 $8.23
25 Croatia 30 $25.19 $1.34
26 Turkey 40 $25.43 $0.98
27 Thailand 19 $26.71 $0.43
28 Mexico 26 $26.87 $2.13
29 Estonia 5 $27.16 $0.51
30 Taiwan 40 $27.59 $0.86
31 Bulgaria 17 $28.28 $3.62
32 Italy 23 $28.74 $3.16
33 Czech Republic 12 $29.10 $0.82
34 South Korea 17 $29.51 $0.21
35 Réunion 6 $29.91 $0.44
36 Slovenia 17 $30.64 $2.20
37 Argentina 22 $31.80 $3.30
38 Montenegro 10 $31.72 $1.42
39 Turkmenistan 9 $32.23 $84.20
40 China 19 $32.23 $0.35
41 Algeria 4 $32.17 $8.36
42 Albania 26 $32.76 $2.36
43 Dominican Republic 18 $33.22 $16.97
44 Germany 33 $33.90 $0.65
45 Brazil 29 $34.82 $3.89
46 Macedonia 17 $35.17 $1.10
47 Denmark 17 $35.74 $0.85
48 Mauritius 8 $36.08 $13.06
49 France 13 $36.16 $1.17
50 Bosnia and Herzegovina 38 $36.61 $3.51
51 India 37 $37.10 $1.25
52 Palestine, State of 15 $37.13 $2.29
53 Saint Barthélemy 6 $37.13 $2.74
54 Isle of Man 7 $37.56 $0.97
55 Azerbaijan 40 $38.12 $8.32
56 Bangladesh 27 $38.24 $9.86
57 Singapore 8 $38.77 $0.06
58 Åland Islands 17 $38.82 $3.03
59 Morocco 8 $39.31 $1.73
60 San Marino 7 $39.60 $2.31
61 Macau 9 $40.31 $1.31
62 French Guiana 6 $40.18 $3.55
63 United Kingdom 33 $40.62 $1.01
64 Pakistan 28 $40.84 $4.10
65 Uruguay 18 $40.88 $3.24
66 Martinique 5 $40.90 $3.64
67 Spain 21 $41.39 $0.73
68 Finland 11 $41.48 $1.11
69 Monaco 9 $41.86 $0.57
70 Venezuela 8 $42.48 $11.00
71 Malaysia 27 $44.64 $3.11
72 Guatemala 9 $44.46 $14.00
73 St. Pierre and Miquelon 5 $44.14 $12.27
74 Peru 15 $45.62 $6.37
75 Mayotte 6 $45.39 $12.75
76 Armenia 41 $46.77 $6.59
77 The Netherlands 16 $47.45 $1.06
78 Cyprus 19 $47.64 $3.16
79 Chile 25 $48.38 $1.45
80 Austria 21 $49.84 $0.79
81 Gibraltar 9 $49.56 $0.84
82 Japan 30 $50.61 $1.23
83 Colombia 14 $51.07 $2.01
84 Belgium 25 $50.95 $0.96
85 Guernsey 6 $52.54 $1.48
86 Portugal 11 $52.25 $0.60
87 Cambodia 40 $52.89 $19.02
88 Philippines 24 $53.38 $2.84
89 Kuwait 40 $53.36 $4.54
90 Iraq 7 $53.33 $1.96
91 Greece 18 $54.48 $0.78
92 Canada 32 $54.68 $2.11
93 Paraguay 14 $55.29 $9.48
94 Lebanon 23 $55.41 $42.24
95 Nicaragua 13 $55.81 $11.47
96 Sweden 22 $55.40 $0.46
97 South Africa 36 $55.83 $3.84
98 Jersey 9 $56.49 $0.86
99 Grenada 8 $57.19 $2.38
100 Fiji 6 $57.63 $100.87
101 Falkland Islands 3 $57.89 $24.20
102 Côte d’Ivoire 9 $59.55 $17.47
103 Libya 3 $59.84 $63.57
104 Australia 33 $60.37 $2.24
105 Dominica 3 $62.17 $13.88
106 Ecuador 30 $62.29 $4.40
107 Vietnam 17 $62.48 $2.44
108 New Zealand 38 $63.53 $0.68
109 Mauritania 4 $64.09 $10.70
110 Guadeloupe 7 $63.82 $2.34
111 Jamaica 12 $64.44 $5.12
112 El Salvador 19 $65.11 $5.57
113 Gambia 8 $65.90 $37.76
114 United States 35 $66.17 $1.91
115 Ethiopia 4 $67.21 $76.60
116 Puerto Rico 26 $68.37 $8.00
117 Afghanistan 20 $68.51 $56.51
118 Honduras 13 $68.62 $6.93
119 Mozambique 13 $68.81 $19.63
120 Cameroon 6 $68.93 $53.56
121 Lithuania 20 $69.22 $0.43
122 Costa Rica 27 $69.87 $5.33
123 Swaziland 9 $69.80 $53.40
124 Saint Lucia 5 $71.08 $5.32
125 Hong Kong 15 $71.18 $0.76
126 Curaçao 15 $71.20 $3.61
127 Ireland 19 $70.95 $0.40
128 Trinidad and Tobago 20 $72.35 $2.80
129 Iceland 19 $72.19 $0.67
130 Sint Maarten 13 $72.88 $7.90
131 Indonesia 25 $75.86 $1.49
132 Myanmar 24 $75.96 $26.38
133 Luxembourg 37 $75.50 $1.17
134 Montserrat 6 $76.16 $20.67
135 Bahamas 13 $77.08 $5.82
136 Botswana 15 $78.11 $35.87
137 Jordan 30 $78.42 $2.21
138 Saint Kitts and Nevis 12 $78.49 $6.07
139 Samoa 6 $79.24 $5.45
140 Benin 6 $79.72 $94.65
141 Nigeria 8 $80.14 $7.88
142 New Caledonia 13 $80.61 $4.20
143 Switzerland 36 $81.13 $2.96
144 Bolivia 36 $81.78 $15.47
145 Norway 37 $81.75 $15.21
146 Greenland 7 $83.11 $29.18
147 Saudi Arabia 12 $84.02 $2.74
148 Saint Helena 6 $82.97 $47.58
149 Guam 3 $85.00 $3.43
150 Kenya 17 $85.91 $2.48
151 Maldives 17 $86.08 $5.97
152 Anguilla 11 $86.70 $3.65
153 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 8 $88.01 $5.32
154 Faroe Islands 14 $87.93 $2.07
155 Liechtenstein 22 $88.49 $3.16
156 Belize 6 $88.94 $28.45
157 French Polynesia 6 $91.52 $48.37
158 Sudan 3 $95.52 $51.24
159 Djibouti 4 $96.96 $21.06
160 Marshall Islands 4 $97.45 $149.77
161 Malta 12 $97.54 $1.37
162 Seychelles 8 $100.26 $88.75
163 Bahrain 25 $104.99 $9.06
164 Barbados 11 $105.23 $0.57
165 Lesotho 4 $109.02 $64.18
166 Caribbean Netherlands 3 $110.12 $11.62
167 Gabon 7 $109.66 $21.79
168 Kyrgyzstan 21 $112.00 $31.27
169 Panama 11 $112.77 $0.80
170 Guyana 12 $112.75 $36.07
171 Sierra Leone 3 $113.78 $191.44
172 Tanzania 12 $113.93 $38.34
173 Comoros 4 $115.01 $68.74
174 Somalia 5 $117.00 $249.45
175 Turks and Caicos Islands 9 $119.21 $5.41
176 Niger 5 $119.82 $265.42
177 Micronesia (Federated States of) 5 $121.36 $41.38
178 American Samoa 3 $122.59 $127.24
179 Bermuda 41 $126.80 $13.08
180 Angola 12 $139.22 $38.52
181 Virgin Islands (British) 4 $146.05 $8.42
182 Oman 13 $147.84 $3.77
183 Qatar 14 $149.40 $15.63
184 Antigua and Barbuda 10 $153.78 $11.90
185 Vanuatu 10 $154.07 $82.65
186 United Arab Emirates 7 $155.16 $16.26
187 Mali 7 $163.42 $63.94
188 Zimbabwe 8 $170.00 $24.26
189 Cook Islands 4 $172.37 $20.08
190 Cayman Islands 14 $175.27 $7.88
191 Haiti 8 $224.19 $24.31
192 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 39 $231.03 $12.34
193 Brunei Darussalam 7 $267.40 $4.06
194 Namibia 12 $436.81 $22.40
195 Papua New Guinea 18 $597.20 $88.43
196 Burkina Faso 8 $961.14 $84.95
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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
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Comments
2 Responses
  1. Avatar photo Ed Mann says:

    At first, I found the article very confusing because you refer to speeds in units of megabits, when it should be megabits per second. This seems to be a general problem across the industry – even the broadband providers make the same mistake. As a self professed professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer, you should be ashamed.

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