A few days ago I commented on Cem Sertoğlu’s report of Turkey having the most expensive broadband in the world.
Well.
Cem has posted a follow-up to his original post with some very interesting new information… turns out the latest reports tell a slightly different story, with Turkey still quite high up on the list of expensive broadband, but Kazakhstan taking the ultimate prize, as it were. You’re not going to believe this, but here it is:
Most users (and only four percent of the country even has access) hook up through state-owned Kazakhtelecom, a company not concerned with competitive pricing for its services. An unlimited dial-up plan costs about €82 ($111) in a country where the average monthly wage is €292 ($399). As for DSL, an unlimited 1.5Mbps connection costs €2,458 ($3,355) a month, and doesn’t even included the required ADSL modem. Want a 6Mbps cable connection? It’ll cost you, to the tune of €16,144 ($22,032) a month. As the OSCE report drily notes, this is more than a thousand times the price of such a connection in Western Europe.
Er, yeah. Imagine phoning up for broadband and being told it’ll set you back twenty-two thousand dollars a month. Yikes! Now I’m tempted to search around on my favourite social networks and see if I can find anyone in the four percent of connected Kazakhs and learn what they pay for their connection. It wouldn’t surprise me if at some point some black market underground solution becomes available, some kind of pirate satellite or something. Link
Holy Ba-JEEBUS!
Holy Ba-JEEBUS!
Guess that means only the spammers can afford fast connections.
😉
Guess that means only the spammers can afford fast connections.
😉
At least they can get 6Mbps. The prices in Australia aren’t terribly expensive, but our speeds are crap.
I think I’m still processing those prices, though. I don’t think it’s sunk in. I’m concerned by their wages!
At least they can get 6Mbps. The prices in Australia aren’t terribly expensive, but our speeds are crap.
I think I’m still processing those prices, though. I don’t think it’s sunk in. I’m concerned by their wages!
@Johan: I know, I said the same thing when I first read that.
@Johan: I know, I said the same thing when I first read that.
@Radioactive Jam: I think spammers would be smart enough to go elsewhere for their connections! 😀
@Radioactive Jam: I think spammers would be smart enough to go elsewhere for their connections! 😀
@melissah: those monthly wages are about the same here… you have to keep in mind that the cost of living in this part of the world is very, very low. Except for internet, of course. 🙂
@melissah: those monthly wages are about the same here… you have to keep in mind that the cost of living in this part of the world is very, very low. Except for internet, of course. 🙂
Holy MEGABITS!!!! We pay around $40 a month for adsl. mbits, I don’t know but it’s pretty mega fast, yo. In Denmark, one very expensive country.
Holy MEGABITS!!!! We pay around $40 a month for adsl. mbits, I don’t know but it’s pretty mega fast, yo. In Denmark, one very expensive country.
@JB: it seems to work like that – the more expensive the cost of living, the cheaper the internet. Japan has the cheapest internet, for example.
@JB: it seems to work like that – the more expensive the cost of living, the cheaper the internet. Japan has the cheapest internet, for example.
Holy moly $22,000??? I wonder how much cars sell over there.
Holy moly $22,000??? I wonder how much cars sell over there.
@Vivian: I think car prices are about the same as they are here, which is to say about the same as in Europe. The thing with the internet is, it’s their way of censoring without being seen as censoring. When governments block web sites, they get a lot of media attention, but if they jack their prices up they can make any excuse they want without looking like they’re specifically trying to keep information from the people.
@Vivian: I think car prices are about the same as they are here, which is to say about the same as in Europe. The thing with the internet is, it’s their way of censoring without being seen as censoring. When governments block web sites, they get a lot of media attention, but if they jack their prices up they can make any excuse they want without looking like they’re specifically trying to keep information from the people.