According to the latest research from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) the average price for a monthly broadband subscription in its 30 member countries is R 318-00. <\/p>\n
On average, fibre to the home\/building is the most expensive at R 331-00 and fixed wireless – typically ADSL and Cable – the cheapest at R 214-00 per month. <\/p>\n
These prices is generally calculated for fixed line broadband connections of multiple Mbps connections with unlimited usage. While most local broadband offerings are characterized by low monthly usage limits, which skews the results slightly, a general comparison is still interesting.<\/p>\n
A standard 4 Mbps ADSL connection in SA with a 3 GB usage limit costs R 544-00 per month, more than double the average cost of an uncapped ADSL or Cable connection in the OECD.<\/p>\n
Cost per Mbps<\/strong><\/p>\n A more accurate indicator is however the average price per advertised Mbps. <\/p>\n It should again be noted that it is generally assumed that these high-speed broadband connections are uncapped which means that the price per advertised Mbps gives an accurate reflection of the cost of broadband and bandwidth in a certain country.<\/p>\n The average price per advertised Mbps of connectivity in the OECD is R 117-00. Japan, France, Sweden, Korea and Finland have the least expensive offers per Mbps, ranging from R 0.84 per Mbps in Japan to R 2.73 in Finland.<\/p>\n Considering that the average usage limit – in the few countries where uncapped broadband is not commonplace – is over 30 GB it is fair to compare local ADSL with a 30 GB usage limit for this measurement.<\/p>\n The total cost for a 4 Mbps ADSL connection with a 30 GB monthly usage limit is around R 2300-00. This gives a per-Mbps cost of R 575-00, nearly 500% more than the OECD average.<\/p>\n The most accurate measurement for broadband pricing comparisons is the Cost per Mbps per GB, but the OECD does not use this barometer – most likely because of the high prevalence of uncapped services in its member countries.<\/p>\n