Internet provided through a router
Rwanda has been ranked 11th among the cheapest countries in sub- Saharan Africa and 64th globally out of countries with the cheapest internet prices.
The ranking was released by this weekend by Cable- a UK based internet and broadband research and monitoring venture which conducted its data findings from 5,554 mobile data plans in 228 countries.
The ranking showed that Rwanda sold an average price of 1 Gigabyte (GB) of internet at Rwf1, 346, compared to the global cost of more than Rwf7000 average charged in the sub- Saharan and 14,000 in the North American region among the most expensive regions.
In the previous data collection of 2019, Rwanda ranked 5th position globally after leading countries like India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
This year’s competition was tight among top leading countries of which India remain in the first position for two consecutive evaluations.
India was followed by Israel, Kyrgyzstan returned third while Italy claimed the fourth position followed by Ukraine claimed Rwanda’s former position (5th).
Only Somalia (among African countries) featured in the top ten, claiming position 7, with 1GB of data costing just $0.50.
Though Cable said that contrary to what one might expect, eight out of the top 50 cheapest countries in the world for mobile data are in Sub-Saharan Africa, the firm also was shocked some countries in the region were among the most expensive.
“Sub-Saharan Africa also lays claim to some of the most expensive nations in the world for mobile data: Saint Helena, whose average cost for 1GB of mobile data is an eye-watering $52.50, is joined at the bottom of the table by other countries in the region: São Tomé and Príncipe, Malawi and Benin” Cable said.
Among the cheapest countries in the top 50 global ranking is Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Ghana, Tanzania, Algeria and Sudan.
Cable data analysts said that 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 the Consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.
He also stated that at the more expensive end of the list, are countries where often the infrastructure isn’t great but also where consumption is very small.
Among the top five most expensive countries globally- Saint Helena took lead, followed by Falkland Islands, Nauru, Bermuda and São Tomé and Príncipe.
