Broadband prices: fibre now the same as ADSL

Latest Point-Topic global broadband tariffs report reveals that fibre prices are dropping while DSL prices are increasing

Staff Writer

October 9, 2012

Research firm Point-Topic has released their latest global broadband tariffs report, revealing that the average cost of standalone fibre packages offered to consumers has been coming down across the world.

“In Q2 2012, the average monthly charge for fibre services was the same as for DSL services, even though fibre still offers significantly higher bandwidth,” the report states.

According to the report the average speed offered to fibre (FTTx) customers was 67.8Mbps, significantly higher than the average DSL speed of 6.8Mbps. Cable modem customers enjoyed an average speed of 34.2Mbps.

Curiously fibre operators are offering more low speed packages because there is not an appetite for the fastest speeds fibre can offer in the residential market.

“We don’t yet have the ‘killer application’ that requires these types of speeds. We have however seen a growth in 30-80Mbps packages,” the report states.

The following graph gives an overview of the pricing changes of broadband services across the globe.