Can you imagine a life without internet? I already know your answer. It is pretty astounding how the birth of technology has transformed the lifestyle of humankind forever. It was only in 1983 that the internet came into being. Some 39 years later, we are already speaking of Web 3.0, metaverse, we are earning in cryptos, our businesses are online, our education is online. Even our dates are online.
Safe to say, our lives have been digitized. The physical world has intermingled with the virtual world, and there’s no going back. We are talking of privacy threats, scams, and frauds in the virtual space. There are seminars on the dangers of information overload, social media pressures, and cyberbullying. Basically, we are caught in this net called the Internet and we will only fall deeper into this mesh
Internet is no more a luxury for the few. It is a need of the masses. Everybody needs it. With the all-pervasiveness of the internet, have you ever wondered what it costs around the world? Or, given a thought about the its penetration globally?
1. India – ₹7/GB. Indians have the cheapest internet in the world.
Yes, you read that right. We have the access to the world’s cheapest internet costing an average of $0.09 for one Gigabyte (GB).
But wait, does that mean, every Indian has access to seamless internet. The answer is No. We have a bustling population of 1.3 billion people. And as of January 2022, our Internet penetration rate stood at mere 47% of the total population. This means that more than half of our country does not have access to internet. And here we were thinking that life without internet is beyond imagination.
2. USA – ₹257/GB. Yes, Americans do not have cheap internet
While the average price of 1 GB Internet costs $3.33, their internet penetration rate is 92%. Much, much, much higher than ours.
3. Israel – ₹8/GB. Israel has the second cheapest Internet in the world
Israel is next to India with the internet costing an average of $0.05 per GB. And not just that, Israel has the penetration rate of 76%.
4. UK – ₹109/GB
The average price of internet in UK is $1.42 per GB. More than 94% of population has access to it.
5. Germany – ₹258/GB
93% of Germans have access to internet at an average price of $3.38 per GB.
6. Australia – ₹53/GB
Australians have access to 1 GB internet at an average price of $0.70 with the internet penetration rate of 91%.
7. China – ₹40/GB
Chinese have internet costing an average of $0.52 per GB with 70% penetration rate.
Fun fact: You know our savior Google? Yes, they don’t have it. Search engine called ‘Baidu’ is Chinese version of Google.
8. Pakistan – ₹45/GB
Only 36.5% of Pakistani have access to internet costing an average of $0.59 per GB.
9. France – ₹265/GB
93% of French citizens have access to internet costing an average of $3.45 per GB.
10. Russia – ₹22/GB
85% of Russians have access to internet at an average price of $0.29 per GB.
However, the future of the Internet in Russia is unpredictable since the country’s invasion in Ukraine. It is nearly isolated online.
11. Japan – ₹258/GB
The average price of 1 GB internet for Japanese is $3.38 with penetration of 94%.
12. Switzerland – ₹401/GB. One of the highest internet penetration rate in the world.
Switzerland has expensive internet costing an average of $5.24 per GB. However, the internet penetration rate is a whopping 98%.
13. Bangladesh – ₹26/GB. Very less number of Bangladeshis have access to the internet
Bangladesh’s internet penetration rate stands at mere 31.5%. This rate is exceedingly less considering the cross-sectoral need of the Internet in every industry.
14. Canada – ₹437/GB
96.4% of Canadians have access to internet costing an average of $5.72 per GB.
15. New Zealand – ₹534/GB
Yes, expensive. Average price of $6.99 per GB is surely not cheap. But 94.9% of population have access to it.
Are you shocked too? Internet is a need for all yet there is a humongous difference in prizes worldwide. Also, cheap internet does not mean that every body can access it. Take our own country for example. We have the cheapest internet in the world. Yet, there are communities in India unaware about its existence.
