The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) has disclosed that although Internet data services remain high in Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Rwanda offer cheapest tariffs on the continent. As at the end of 2018, it ranked Nigeria as the second country after Egypt with the lowest tariff in Africa.
In a document, yesterday, A4AI revealed that the cost of Internet access dropped globally last year, except in Africa.With Internet users on the continent already paying the highest prices for mobile data compared to average monthly income, new data from A4AI showed the average price of a gigabyte (GB) of data (relative to income) has increased over the past year in Africa, while dropping or remaining the same in other regions.
Indeed, the rise of Internet and smart devices has revolutionised and disrupted several interrelated industries. Telecoms corporations have amassed fortunes by selling several products and services, including mobile data and broadband.A4AI's report titled: Mobile Broadband Pricing, noted that people who live in developing economies face the least affordable mobile broadband prices. In fact, the past five years saw a rise in broadband cost for the first time.
It highlighted the latest pricing across 99 countries and made several inferences. According to the body, the price is still expensive for millions of people, and only 30 of the nations surveyed have affordable mobile broadband.This implies that over 1.3 billion people live in countries with expensive 1 GB plan.Speaking with The Guardian, Chairman, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, said keen competition and stiff price reductions over threats from top (OTT) players were responsible for the drop in the country.