Home » 

UK ISP News Archives

 » 
Sponsored Links

UPD Global Entry Level Fixed Line Broadband ISP Package Prices are on the Climb

Posted: 29th Nov, 2010 By: MarkJ
point topic ukThe 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.

q3 2010 world broadband prices

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.

q3 2010 world broadband price per megabit

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.

Fiona Vanier, Senior Analyst at Point Topic, said:

"Prices are stabilising in many markets around the world and overall in the last quarter there was an average increase globally. However there are plenty of countries that are still rolling out new networks and ISPs that are announcing new tariffs.

Even in relatively mature markets, like Singapore or Italy, there is room for improvement as the new tariffs from StarHub and Fastweb demonstrate.

Nine of the ten best value tariffs are either pure fibre or hybrid offerings where fibre is a significant part of the local loop. The exception is Germany where Unity Media offer a cable service that is very competitive.

Bandwidth will continue to increase as fibre edges closer to the consumer. Higher speeds generally mean better value for the consumer. All that remains is to work out how best to use it."

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.
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £26.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Sky Broadband UK ISP Logo
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All

Helpful ISP Guides and Tips

Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5533)
  2. BT (3518)
  3. Politics (2542)
  4. Openreach (2299)
  5. Business (2267)
  6. Building Digital UK (2247)
  7. FTTC (2045)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1978)
  9. Statistics (1790)
  10. 4G (1669)
  11. Virgin Media (1621)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1466)
  13. Fibre Optic (1396)
  14. Wireless Internet (1392)
  15. FTTH (1382)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules