NetCredit Study: U.S. Has Low Broadband Prices

Among the arguably untruthful statements about the cost of internet access in the United States is that it is not affordable. 

On the contrary, according to a new analysis by NetCredit, which shows U.S. consumers spending about 0.16 percent of income on internet access, “making it the most affordable broadband in North America,” says NetCredit. 

source: NetCredit 

In Europe, a majority of consumers pay less than one percent of their average wages to get broadband access, NetCredit says. In Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Japan,  10 Mbps service costs between 0.15 percent and 0.28 percent of income. 

As always, there are some caveats. NetCredit has to choose some tier of service that is globally available, to make the comparisons, has to adjust for living costs and prices and has to compare some standard retail price plans, not all. 

NetCredit had to come up with a way of quantifying “average” speed in each country, using an “average fixed-line broadband package price” (what consumers buy), divided by the “mean” (arithmetic average, not median) internet speed. 

This analysis uses 10 Mbps price plans for comparison, retail posted prices (without discounts that may be available) and income figures that are “average” in each country, using the most recent available World Bank data, which might be from 2017 or 2018, in some cases. 

The analysis also is of services consumers actually buy, not what is available to buy. Most do not buy gigabit speed services, even when widely available, for example. 

Yemen has the least affordable broadband, costing 2792 percent  of the average $88.33 income. In Turkmenistan consumers pay about 1043.08 percent of average monthly income. 

Monaco has the most affordable broadband, costing just 0.0068 percent of the average monthly wage.