Jim Harris (pictured) has compiled data to show that Canada ranks alongside Cyprus, Greece and South Korea among developing countries for the high cost per gigabyte of data.
He captioned his infographic, picked up by specialist phone site iPhone in Canada, with the explanation: “Canada’s high data cost a result of high market concentration: Bell, Rogers and Telus collectively have >82% of all wireless.”
Five countries in the developing world – Malawi, Benin, Chad, Yemen and Botswana – charge more, from C$27.41 to C$13.87 respectively, he notes.
But Canada is close to the top of developed nations, at C$12.55 per gigabyte, less than C$13.56 in Cyprus but more than C$12.06 in Greece. (C$1.00 = US$0.77.)
The five least expensive include India, at C$0.09 per gigabyte, and Israel at C$0.11.
Most of the world is in the range around C$5, notes Harris, who points out that the “cost of data drops as [number of] networks grow in a country”. Countries with two charge an average C$13.03/GB; those with three – as in Canada – charge C$9.17; and countries with four charge an average C$5.25.
“There is a 30,000% difference between the cheapest price for data and the most expensive,” writes Harris.
