Mobile data rates cheapest in India, most expensive in this country

The data from 6,313 mobile data plans in 230 countries were gathered and analysed by it between 23 October and 28 November 2018.

A reserach by a price comparison site has found that India has the cheapest mobile data in the world with 1GB costing just Rs 18.5 (USD 0.26). (Image: AFP)

NEW DELHI: A reserach by a price comparison site has found that India has the cheapest mobile data in the world with 1GB costing just Rs 18.5 (USD 0.26). The global average is about Rs 600/GB. The average price of USD 0.26 for one gigabyte (GB) in India compares to USD 6.66 in the UK and USD 12.37 for the same amount of data in the US. The research has compared mobile data charges in 230 countries. "A country whose young population has a particularly high technological awareness, India offers a vibrant smartphone market, with strong adoption and many competitors. Data, therefore, is quite staggeringly cheap," it said. Cable.co.uk said data from 6,313 mobile data plans in 230 countries were gathered and analysed by it between 23 October and 28 November 2018. The average cost of one gigabyte (1GB) was then calculated and compared to form a worldwide mobile data pricing league table, it said. For the India market, researchers studied 57 plans and found that 1GB of data was available in the country for as low as Rs 1.75 (USD 0.02) and for a maximum of Rs 99.9 (USD 1.4), it said. India is followed by Kyrgyzstan where 1GB data is available for USD 0.27, Kazakstan (USD 0.49) and Ukraine (USD 0.51). Zimbabwe is the most expensive country where average cost of 1GB data comes at an eye-watering USD 75.20. Africa has both the cheapest and most expensive rates, with Rwanda, Sudan and Congo all offering less than USD 1 data prices but Equatorial Guinea and Saint Helena both charging more than USD 50 for 1GB. One GB of mobile data in China costs an average of USD 9.89. Sri Lanka offers 1GB of data for an average of USD 0.87 while Bangladesh tags it at USD 0.99. In Pakistan, 1GB is available for USD 1.85. With over 430 million smartphone users, India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China. In 2016, Ambani sparked a price war in India's hyper-competitive telecom market with the launch of 4G phone service Jio. Since then, Jio has signed on 280 million customers by offering free domestic voice calls, dirt-cheap data services, and virtually free smartphones. Its offering has led to slashing of rates by its competitors as well. (With inputs from PTI)