Were Maslow to have constructed his hierarchy of needs in 2020, the pyramid would probably include a level for mobile data.
Indeed, access to Internet, particularly on-the-go, is a borderline human right.
It’s important, then, that people have affordable access to mobile data. And some countries obviously fare better in this regard than others.
Vancouver-based Visual Capitalist recently compiled data on data pricing to determine the average price of a GB of data in 155 countries.
In 2016, Canadians were paying the most in the world for mobile data. The good news is that this is no longer the case. The bad news is that Canada is still hella expensive to surf the web from your smartphone. According to the most recent numbers, Canadians pay $12.55 USD per GB of data. That means Canada ranks 146th of all countries surveyed. Not good.
Here’s a look at the five most expensive countries:
And the five cheapest:
Nine cents! Imagine. Intense market competition is a big part of the reason countries like India boast such cheap data. Intense market competition is also precisely what Canada lacks.
Other factors contributing to unaffordable mobile Internet include poor infrastructure, low demand (resulting in few suppliers and low competition), and average consumer income. Sure, most Canadians can afford it, but that doesn’t mean we should be gouged.