Kazakhstan ranks 16th on the list of 223 countries with the cheapest mobile Internet plans, QazMonitor reports.
Analysts at Cable examined tariff pricing for mobile Internet across 233 countries and 5,292 mobile data plans. Data was collected based on the cheapest consumer plans from each provider, and countries were ranked by average price per 1GB.
The average cost of 1GB in Kazakhstan is $0.37 which places it on par with Uzbekistan (15th), above China at $0.41 (22nd) and below France at $0.23 (7th).
Overall, the countries with the cheapest mobile Internet in 2022 are Israel at $0.04, followed by Italy in second place with $0.12, then San Marino with $0.14, Fiji with $0.15, and India with $0.17.
Commenting on the results of the study, Cable’s consumer telecoms analyst Dan Howdle noted that the countries with the cheapest Internet fall into either of the two categories:
– Countries with developed mobile and broadband infrastructure, which allows Internet service providers to offer large amounts of data, thus lowering the price per gigabyte
– Countries with less-developed broadband networks that rely heavily on mobile data, so the economic environment dictates a lower price
“Many countries in the middle of the list have good infrastructure and competitive mobile markets, and while their prices aren’t among the cheapest in the world, they wouldn’t necessarily be considered expensive by its consumers," added Howdle.
Analysts at Rankings highlighted that the cost of mobile Internet in the country has decreased in annual statistics. According to the 2021 edition of the study, the average price for 1GB in Kazakhstan was higher at $0.59.
The decrease in tariffs occurred against the backdrop of growing traffic consumption and mobile Internet speed. In 2022, the country's largest ISPs invested more than ₸50 billion in mobile infrastructure – Beeline up to ₸33.6 billion and Kcell up to ₸18.2 billion.
