Kenya’s costly internet
A new survey by UK firm Cable.co.uk has revealed that Kenyans pay more to access the Internet compared to their peers in the East African region
The survey analysed mobile data plans in 230 countries across the world put Tanzania as the country with the cheapest data plans in East Africa compared to Kenya and Uganda.
In the global rankings, Tanzania is ranked at position 32, Uganda at position 86 while Kenya and Ethiopia are ranked at position 118 and 94 respectively.
In Tanzania, internet consumers will pay an average of 80 shillings for one gigabyte of data compared to a consumer in Uganda and Kenya who part with 166 shillings and 240 shillings for one GB of Internet respectively.
A consumer in Ethiopia will part with 182 shillings for one gigabyte. Sudan has the cheapest internet in Africa and ranks fifth globally, with its consumers paying 29 shillings for one GB.
The most expensive place in the world to buy mobile data is Equatorial Guinea, where the average cost of one gigabyte goes at 5,312 shillings, nearly a thousand times the cost of mobile data in Israel-which has the cheapest mobile data plan in the world.
“Many of the cheapest countries in which to buy mobile data fall roughly into one of two categories. Some have excellent mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure and so providers are able to offer large amounts of data, which brings down the price per gigabyte. Others with less advanced broadband networks are heavily reliant on mobile data and the economy dictates that prices must be low, as that’s what people can afford,” said Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk.
It said many countries in the middle of the list have good infrastructure and competitive mobile markets, and while their prices aren’t among the cheapest in the world they wouldn’t necessarily be considered expensive by their consumers.