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Expensive broadband is pricing millions out of accessing the internet
A lack of competition among broadband providers in some countries means millions of people around the world can't afford internet access, according to a report published Tuesday.
The internet affordability report, published annually by Tim Berners-Lee's Web Foundation and the Alliance for Affordable Internet, offers a snapshot of the barriers to people being able to afford to get online. In 2019, the report identifies a lack of competition in the market as one of the factors keeping costs too high in some countries.
[...] But in countries where there's one primary broadband provider with no real competitors, there's no incentive to keep prices low. In countries with just one operator, data costs on average $3.42 more per gigabyte than in countries where there's healthy competition in the market, the report found. With no rivals, 1GB of data can cost up to $7.33 more than if there was just one other broadband provider to choose from.
[...] For internet service to be considered affordable, people should be able to purchase 1GB of data for less than 2% of their monthly salary. In low- and middle-income countries around the world, the average cost of 1GB currently stands at 4.7% of people's salary, and across Africa it rises to 7.1%.
According to the Alliance for Affordable Internet, countries can tackle this by establishing competition in the market through policy initiatives and lowering the barrier to entry for new players. It also wants governments to invest in more free public Wi-Fi, especially in areas not served by the market.
"Competitive broadband markets provide the foundation needed to make universal access a reality," said Jorge. "Yet, governments must also play their role by pursuing public access policy and investments that build healthy, competitive markets that drive down the cost to connect."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:02PM (8 children)
This comment posted from a phone in a market where competition exists between four carriers and a dozen resellers to provide internet access on data plans at price points which are affordable to all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:34PM
This comment posted from $120/month 100Mbps 1024 GB limit. So... This comment cost me $0.02
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:36PM
So, not the NBN then :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:49PM
This comment posted from a NBN FTTN 43Mbsp plan, currently $60/month increasing soon to $65/month because the NBN is more interested in profit than providing decent service at an affordable price, soon to be $70/month if this keeps up with theoretically unlimited data.
I was paying $50 for a DSL2 connection at 18Mbps with (theoretical - fair use) unlimited data. It was Good Enough.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @03:13PM
I got a 300/30 Mbit/s cable connection, no caps, for about 88 USD per month here in Norway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @11:27PM
Good for you. This is posted from a location where there is no LTE coverage from any provider and only 2 of the big 4 provide spotty 3G. Also, I have the choice of 1 ADSL provider of up to 6 down 1 up, which almost never gets that close, for $60. Or I can get 25/3 with a 20 GB cap for $90. Or I can get 12/1.5 for my first 12GB then 5Mbps off-peak 0.5 Mbps peak for $65. Or I can get PAYGO service which is much more expensive than those if you use more than ~3GB of data.
Got to love living in a county seat in "flyover country," USA.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday October 23 2019, @02:55AM (2 children)
I normally use DelTaco internet, or at WalMart .
I use caching for offline use. So I snag things of interest when I am in proximity of high speed access.
I am not quite poor enough to qualify for something I can afford...that is to say I am not yet head over heels in debt. But no way am I paying what AT$T demands.
Otherwise, it's $10/Gig thru Tracfone / WalMart.
I do not have any high speed net at the house. Just the phone, tethered.
AT$T just way too expensive for home use. I do not have kids. I'd rather buy diesel fuel to do road trips than sit at home waiting for pages to load and doing useless shopping for things I don't even need.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 23 2019, @09:59AM (1 child)
Is it possible to cache RedTube?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @04:57AM
https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl [github.com] You can just use python3, the venv module, and then install it with pip. If a website doesn't work correctly, try updating as the latest release changes fairly regularly.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Fishscene on Tuesday October 22 2019, @01:52PM (1 child)
"For internet service to be considered affordable, people should be able to purchase 1GB of data". You've already failed. With bloated everything on the web these days, 1GB can *easily* be eaten up by your average person in a single day. Don't pay for *amount*. Pay for bandwidth. That still lets websites load no matter how stupidly fat they get - even if it's slow. THIS is a lot more affordable than blowing through a 1GB data cap and then paying overages.
I know I am not God, because every time I pray to Him, it's because I'm not perfect and thankful for what He's done.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Common Joe on Wednesday October 23 2019, @06:32PM
I was coming here to say something similar. If you run Windows, in April and October, you can kick the amount to 4% - 6% of your monthly income. And don't think about running multiple versions of Linux.
I was reading some of the comments in the previous article and shaking my head. This 1GB for 2% of your monthly income should be laughable by today's standards.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 22 2019, @06:35PM
It doesn't matter how much they charge per gigabyte, but what value you get from it. A gigabyte of Facebook has no value while a gigabyte of porn creates employment and happiness.