Telecoms analyst firm Point Topic has today released the results of a new study that compares the annual cost of subscribing to the cheapest, and usually slowest, fixed broadband ISP services from around the world. It found that the broadband prices can be over 1,000 times higher, in real terms, "in the poorer countries".

The research, which used data collected from 2,000 tariffs in 64 countries, effectively displays how much of an average yearly income in each country (as a % percentage) would be needed to pay for a year's subscription to the cheapest option available.


The UK manages a respectable 0.65%, which is not far off the USA (0.51%), Germany (0.54%) and France (0.60%). By contrast South Korea didn't do so well on 1.4%, while residents in China needed 3.04% of their annual income to get broadband. A chart of the Top 10 Cheapest and Most Expensive Countries shows an even bigger gap.


Affordability often stems from having a strong and competitive market, not to mention a viable infrastructure from which to base broadband services off in the first place. As a result it's easy to see why broadband is so expensive in developing countries where it's often still regarded as somewhat of a luxury rather than a necessity.