The price of the rates we have in Spain has dropped in the last year. However, so far in 2022, the price has risen slightly. Even so, our country has really cheap rates , whether they are fiber or mobile, and even both. There are convergent fiber and mobile packages for less than 30 euros, but there are countries that are even cheaper than ours.
The Compare The Market website has analyzed the price of the Internet in the different countries of the world. Specifically, they have analyzed the price of fixed broadband in 110 countries, revealing the great differences between different parts of the world.
Spain ranks 32nd out of the 110 countries analysed, being one of the most expensive in the world with an average price of 38.71 euros per month . Ahead of us there are not many countries of the European Union that overtake us, since we only find the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Other countries that offer lower prices are the United Kingdom (39th), Slovenia (45th), Portugal (47th), Austria (48th), Greece (49th), Germany (50th), Denmark (51st), Italy (56th) or France (58th), costing in the latter an average price of 28.31 euros.
Ethiopia, the most expensive country
The most expensive country is Ethiopia , with a shocking cost of 363.99 euros per month . It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, with a cost of 84.84 euros per month, and Qatar, with 76.68 euros. Therefore, we see that the Persian Gulf area is one of the most expensive in the world to have Internet. This is due to several reasons, such as the fact that deployment is expensive as there is not a large population and it is difficult to have economies of scale. Add to that a high cost of living, and the fact that most operators in those countries are monopolies , or duopolies with luck. This is similar to what happens with the Andorra Telecom monopoly in Andorra, with very high prices compared to those in Spain.
Russia and Ukraine, the cheapest
On the opposite side, we find Ukraine , which is the country that has the cheapest Internet in the world with a cost of only 5.22 euros per month . Russia follows with 5.94 euros per month , Romania with 7.46 euros per month, and Moldova with 8.67 euros per month. Most of the cheapest countries analyzed are in Eastern Europe, although there are also some in the Middle East.
Internet price by country
Among the reasons why Eastern Europe has cheaper Internet we find the same as in the Persian Gulf, but in reverse. After the fall of the USSR, there was hardly any infrastructure to offer the Internet. For this reason, it gave rise to a multitude of companies starting from scratch to cable the countries, which generated greater competition. This is especially noticeable in big cities, where there are no monopolies and operators are constantly pulling each other’s necks. It has not been until recently that they have started to implement some regulations in the market to reduce this fierce competition.