Fixed Network Broadband Costs Have Fallen At Least 82% Since 2008

People will disagree about whether fixed network broadband is "too expensive" in developed nations. Part of the reason is that prices often are quoted in absolute terms, rather than as a percentage of average monthly income in any nation. 

The latter arguably is a better way of comparing costs across regions and nations, as that method shows the relative cost of Internet access compared to other goods and services. 

In that regard, one might argue that fixed network Internet access prices are reasonable in virtually every nation. Since 2008, developed nation fixed network broadband access prices have declined from about 2.5 percent of per capita gross national income to about 1.7 percent. 

And though broadband access supplied by fixed networks remains prohibitively expensive in many developing nations, since 2009 prices in developing nations have been falling fast. 

IN 2009 broadband access cost 165 percent of per capita income. By 2012 that had fallen to 30 percent of income. That still is too high for mass adoption, but the declining cost trend remains intact.