The latest Q3-2010 internet access costing research from Point Topic UK has revealed that broadband ISP prices for "Entry Level" (the lowest-cost service offered with a downstream speed of at least 256Kbps) packages in 54 major countries have increased, albeit only gradually, over the past few months.


As usual, DSL ( ADSL , ADSL2+ etc.) remains the cheapest broadband technology on average, followed by FTTx (includes hybrid FTTC as well as full 100Mbps+ FTTH fibre optic solutions) and Cable Modem (e.g. Virgin Media UK). Satellite , Mobile Broadband and Fixed Wireless ( Wi-Fi ) solutions were not included.


Western Europe and the Asia Pacific region continue to have some of the cheapest broadband services in the world, which is partly due to their increasing uptake of "super-fast" fibre optic solutions. Hong Kong comes top, with a $0.028 (£0.018) average price per Megabit (Mb) of data.

Top 10 Cheapest Country, ISP and Tariff - $/Megabit
1. Hong Kong, HKBN, (bb Fibre Home 1000) - $0.028
2. Japan, KDDI, (FTTH AU-Hikari Mansion Giga) - $0.048
3. Romania, Romtelecom, (Clicknet Power) - $0.163
4. Sweden, Riksnet, (Riksnet Broadband 100) - $0.182
5. Latvia, Lattelecom, (Fibre Internet 4) - $0.241
6. China, China Tietong, (J3 Shared 100M VDSL Unlimited) - $0.247
7. Singapore, StarHub Cable Vision, (MaxInfinity Supreme) - $0.271
8. Russia, Beeline (VimpelCom), (High Speed 22G) - $0.353
9. Germany, UnityMedia, (1play Internet) - $0.415
10. Finland, Elisa, (Laajakaista Super 100M/10M) - $0.443

The research notes that quite a lot of operators have, in an effort to hold onto their respective market shares, introduced new tariffs, technologies (e.g. FTTx) and bundles. Some of the price rises are apparently down to the fact that many operators only offer the cheaper tariffs when subscribers sign-up for contracts as long as 30 months.


It should be said that consumers in different countries are often faced with many different situations that can influence their tariffs, from geography to market regulation and competition. However, using the UK as an example, it's easy to see how people can end up paying more for their service.

For example, the new generation of faster broadband services (40Mbps FTTC , 50-100Mbps Cable etc.) often cost more but also deliver better and more reliable speeds. This can help to explain why the price people pay, but not always the price per megabit, may be increasing.

UPDATE 30th November 2010

I forgot to add that the UK ranks 24th in the world for broadband price, costing £0.59p per Megabit. Sadly this wasn't reported on in the public research and press release, so we had to ask directly.