Cheapest broadband gets more expensive
Broadband research firm Point Topic released their Broadband Tariff Benchmark report for Q4 2010, providing insight into broadband pricing around the world.
The latest Point Topic research paper reports on the entry-level tariffs of 54 major DSL, cable modem and FTTx / FTTP operators across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.
An entry-level broadband service has been defined as the lowest-cost service offered with a downstream speed of at least 256Kbps.
Entry level broadband pricing (1USD = 7.3ZAR)
According to the report the average price (Purchasing power parity – PPP rate) for an entry level DSL broadband service increased by 11% year-on-year. The average entry level ADSL product globally now costs R205 (USD28), up from R183 (USD25) a year ago.
DSL also remained the cheapest entry level broadband product, slightly cheaper than Cable Modem services and far more affordable fibre to the premise (FTTx) connections.
“The cost of FTTx services was 24.5% more expensive than DSL services and almost 22 per cent more expensive than cable modem services,” said Point Topic.
Good news for consumers is that the FTTx monthly tariff was the only technology whose year-on-year growth was negative. “This was down by 5.91% from USD37.05 to USD34.86. However, quarterly growth was high at over 4 per cent from USD33.44 to USD34.86,” Point Topic reported.
In South Africa, Telkom charges R199 for their entry level ADSL offering (Do Broadband Level 1) which is cheaper than the global average of R205. It should however be noted that Telkom’s compulsory analogue line rental with their ADSL service increases this price to R332 per month, well above the world average.
Best price per Mbps
When it comes to all broadband offerings FTTx offers the cheapest price per megabit. This was followed by cable modem, with DSL being the most expensive.
The report shows that the average per-Mbps price for Cable Modem and FTTx services is well below R36 per month (USD5) in most regions globally. The cheapest average per-Mbps price can be found in Asia where the cost is counted in cents rather than dollars.
The average Price per Megabit for DSL in the Middle East and Africa is R168 per month, well above any other region in the world.
In South Africa the cost of an uncapped 4Mbps ADSL service is around R1000 per month, translating into R250 per Mbps per month. This cost is therefore not only higher than the average cost in the Middle East and Africa, but multiple times higher than the global average.
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