Page 1 - The affordability of ICT services 2023

Policy Brief International Telecommunication Union

The affordability of ICT services 2023

Foreword Highlights

I am pleased to introduce • Globally, ICT services became more
the 2023 edition of the Policy affordable in 2023 and the rate of
Brief on the Affordability of ICT improvement exceeded the long-term
services. trend observed for broadband services.
ITU’s ICT price monitoring • As of 2023, 114 economies had met the
programme is the most Broadband Commission affordability
comprehensive and timely target, up from 103 in 2022.
assessment on the state of • In an inflationary context, where the price
affordability globally including of many goods and services has increased,
close to 200 economies. ICT service prices actually dropped in real
terms in 2023.
Affordable connectivity is a prerequisite in our journey
towards universal and meaningful connectivity. The • The entry-level fixed-broadband basket
latest results shown here offer room for cautious is more affordable than it was before
optimism: prices for all mobile and fixed broadband the pandemic. Despite widespread
services have become cheaper in 2023 and have improvements in advertised speed and
reached all-time lows. affordability, vast differences persist across
countries.
Nevertheless, we must not allow these achievements • An entry-level mobile-broadband basket
to lull us into complacency. The potential of the costs more than 20 times more in low-
Internet keeps expanding, but more time spent online income economies than in high-income
and more intensive applications mean that a mobile economies. If the monthly data allowance
subscription with 2 GB of data is hardly sufficient. increases from 2 to 10 GB, the differences
In low-income countries, a 10 GB data mobile become 36-fold, highlighting the gap in
subscription consumes as much as a quarter of monthly the ability to make meaningful use of the
income. Moreover, the price gap between high- and Internet.
low-income countries for such a plan is almost twice as
large as for the entry-level, 2 GB plan. • Affordability remains a significant barrier
to connectivity. Where mobile broadband
I invite you to consider the insights of this Policy Brief, access costs more than 10 per cent of
as it lays the groundwork for informed decision-making. average monthly income, the share of
It also points to solutions and shows the critical role of Internet users was typically less than one
regulation in driving down costs: sounder regulations third of the global average.
are associated with greater affordability.
For many individuals, the high cost of connectivity
remains an overwhelming obstacle that prevents access
to a multitude of opportunities. We must intensify our
efforts to eliminate this barrier and forge a path towards
universal and meaningful connectivity.

Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava
Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union

March 2024 1 www.itu.int