Page 16 - Measuring digital development The affordability of ICT services 2024

The affordability of ICT services

Affordability of mobile services

This section reviews the most recent affordability changes for the four mobile-based baskets
for different country groups.

Data-only mobile-broadband basket

The data-only mobile-broadband basket refers to the cheapest non-promotional
option to access mobile-broadband services providing at least 2 GB of monthly data
using at least 3G network technology.

The data-only mobile-broadband basket is the decreased from 1.2 per cent of GNI per capita
entry-level basket typically used for comparing in 2023 to a historic low of 1.1 per cent in 2024
mobile-broadband service prices. From 2023 (Figure 7).
to 2024, the global median price of this basket

Figure 7: Data-only mobile-broadband basket (2 GB) prices by country groups, as a
percentage of GNI per capita

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8.6
7.4
5
4.6 4.2 Affordability target (2%) 5.1 4.6
2.3 1.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.4 0.3 2.3 2.0 2.5 2.1 2.5 2.2 0.4 0.4
0 1.2 0.9 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1
Africa Americas Arab States Asia-Pacific CIS Europe World LDCs LLDCs SIDS Low Lower-middle Upper-middle High

2023 2024 Income

Note: Medians based on the 208 economies for which data were available for both years� Economies are
benchmarked according to the price of an entry-level data-only basket, defined as the cheapest data-only
mobile-broadband subscription available domestically, with 3G technology or above and a minimum monthly
data allowance of 2 GB�
Source: ITU

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