Africa has some of the slowest and most expensive fixed broadband operators in the world, with only four countries on the continent offering broadband at a cost lower than that of the global average, according to a study.
Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia offer broadband at less than the average cost globally, while rates in South Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Mauritania, Kenya and Senegal are significantly higher.
The study, published by broadband statistics and analysis firm Point Topic, documents the global average is US$75 a month, with France and Romania offering the cheapest broadband and Bolivia being the most expensive.
In Africa, South Africans pay an average of US$116 a month, while the most expensive broadband on the continent, offered by Egypt, costs close to US$200.
The company also said Africa, along with South America, has the slowest, most expensive internet in the world, with very few data points.
Numerous studies have shown how African broadband lags behind the rest of the world.
HumanIPO reported last month Akamai released a study showing South Africa had one of the slowest broadband speeds in the world.
Of all the countries surveyed as part of the study in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, South Africa’s broadband speeds were the slowest – at an average of 2.3 megabytes per second (Mbps) – half that of the country’s closest competitor, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Akamai also said South African broadband speeds had witnessed a 1.1 per cent decline in the third quarter of 2013.
South Africa, as well as Egypt, is receiving far slower broadband speeds than advertised, resulting in users only receiving around 76 per cent of the speed promised to them.
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