INFOGRAPHIC: This is how pricey broadband really is in SA

There's good and bad news for South Africa's internet users.

SA's ranking in the Worldwide Broadband Price Comparison by Cable.co.uk has improved slightly, but broadband internet in SA is still costlier than in many other countries – and Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive region in the world.

SA came in at 93 out of 195 countries in terms of affordability, moving up from 102 in 2017, with a change in price of -$3.59 per month y/y.

The average monthly cost of broadband internet access was measured at $55.25 (R790,03).

By comparison, broadband is cheapest in the Ukraine, at an average monthly cost of $5.00 (R71.00).

• READ: INFOGRAPHIC: How SA's broadband speed really stacks up against other countries

Sub-Saharan Africa overall fared worst in Cable's price comparison index, with all but four of the region's 31 countries falling in the most expensive half – and 17 in the most expensive quarter.

Moreover, Cable said, many countries in the region didn't make it onto the index at all.

"Although this vast region contains 31 qualifying countries, it also contains the highest number of countries which failed to qualify due to insufficient or non-existent fixed-line broadband packages," Cable said.

"The absentees are: Central African Republic, Western Sahara, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Chad, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

"Most Sub-Saharan African nations fall in the bottom half of the table, and the region also contains the greatest density of countries in the 10% most expensive in the world, with Mali, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Namibia and Mauritania all among the ten most expensive."

Mauritiania was the world's most expensive place to go online, with an average broadband package price of $768 (over R11 000) per month.

Despite many countries providing faster access y/y, and the price of broadband fluctuating widely from country to country, the average price remains largely unchanged, falling just 1.64% since Q4 in 2014, Cable said.

Moreover, the company added, it was often countries with "slow, patchy broadband infrastructure that supplies only a fraction of the population" that tend to be most expensive.

Graphic: Allison Jeftha, Fin24

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