Page 8 - The affordability of ICT services 2023

The affordability of ICT services 2023

Figure 9: Fixed broadband basket prices, as a percentage of GNI per capita

35
30
25
20
15
Affordability target (2%)
10
5
0
Africa Americas Arab States Asia-Pacific CIS Europe World LDCs LLDCs SIDS Low Lower-middle Upper-middle High

2022 2023 Income

Note: Regional and other country group medians are based on the 178 economies for which data was available as a percentage of GNI per capita from
2022 to 2023. Economies are benchmarked according to the price of an entry-level fixed-broadband basket, defined as the cheapest fixed Internet
subscription available domestically, with a minimum of 5 GB monthly data allowance and an advertised download speed of at least 256 kbit/s.
Source: ITU
the share of ISPs advertising fibre or high-speed cable positive trends: in 2023, there were 61 economies with
as the entry-level fixed broadband basket technology advertised speeds of 100 Mbit/s or faster, up from 36 in
increased from 46 to 61 per cent of the economies with 2021. Among them, there were 25 lower-middle-income
available data. The world median advertised download economies, up from just 5 in 2021. Sixteen economies had
speed for the entry-level plans in 2019 increased from 5 an advertised speed of less than 2 Mbit/s, down from 32 in
Mbit/s to 20 Mbit/s by 2023 (Figure 10). the space of just two years.
Wide gaps persist between regions in terms of connection In 2019, entry-level plans in 126 economies already
speeds. The median advertised download speed in high- included unlimited data usage, and by 2023, that number
income economies was 100 Mbit/s, with speeds of one had increased to 142. During the same period, fixed
gigabit or more reported for the cheapest available plan broadband Internet traffic increased more than two-fold
in Hong Kong, China, as well as Iceland, Italy, Japan, and worldwide, while service providers made significant
Singapore. In contrast, the median speed in LDCs and network upgrades, especially optical fibre. With demand
LLDCs was just 4 Mbit/s or 25 times slower. But there are for fibre-optic connections remaining high, the median

Figure 10: Median advertised download speeds for entry-level fixed-broadband baskets for income
groups and regions (Mbit/s)

High
income

World Europe
Americas
SIDS Asia-Pacific
Arab States
Low- and CIS
middle
income Africa
LLDCs

LDCs

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Note: Medians based on available data for 2019-2023 on advertised speed for the plans used for the basket.
Source: ITU

March 2024 8