On average, global fixed network internet access, adjusted on a purchasing power parity basis, runs between $50 a month to $80 a month, according to Point Topic. That might come as a surprise, since average prices near $80 hold for countries as disparate as India, Turkey and the United States.
As always with internet trends, there is a difference between peak, average and dynamic range of speeds. Some countries with relatively high “average” costs also have high dynamic range. In other words, a relatively small number of high cost connections can occur at the same time as large numbers of low-cost accounts.
In the second quarter of 2017, the average monthly charge for residential broadband services remained at $105, unchanged since the first quarter of 2017. At the same time, the average download speed provided to residential subscribers continued to climb and was 135 Mbps, compared to 124 Mbps in the first quarter of 2017.
The average cost per megabit-per-second of speed continues to decline, Point Topic notes. The average global cost-per-Mbps was US$0.78 at the end of the second quarter of 2017, compared to US$0.85 recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2017. As average speeds continue to climb, it would be reasonable to expect the average price “per Mbps” to continue to decline as well. That has been the trend for decades.
In some markets, such as the United States and Canada, the median price of internet access now has approached that of video subscription service. The difference is that profit margins for video are moderate to low, and declining, while profit margins for internet access are generally higher.
That is but one reason internet access has emerged as the anchor service for a fixed or mobile service provider. Among the other reasons are the high take rates for internet access and growing usage, while usage and average prices for other services decline.
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