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Cyprus has the most expensive mobile broadband in EU

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Cyprus has the most expensive mobile broadband in the EU, a European Commission study found.

Despite the fact that mobile broadband prices have dropped all over the EU compared to 2017, according to the study, “compared to all EU28 countries, prices for mobile broadband and telephony in Cyprus are much more expensive than the EU average.”

The study compared usage baskets offered by the two or three biggest mobile network operators of each EU28 country, Japan, Iceland, Turkey, Norway, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

To support valid cross-national comparison of retail prices of mobile broadband offers in each usage basket, consistent price normalisation procedures were applied. These take full account of contractual features varying between offers which impact on consumer usage costs, such as one-off fees, discounts, contract duration and limits for telephony call time, numbers of SMS and data volumes uploaded or downloaded.

Cyta and MTN vs EU average

In the case of Cyprus, it compared offers by Cyta and MTN and found that their prices are much higher than the EU average.

Specifically, the usage basket offered by MTN for 1GB of data, 300 calls and 225 SMS is available for 29.47 per month, while the EU average is 22.32 per month.

The basket for 2GB of data, 900 calls and 350 SMS offered by the same company is available for €47.13, while the EU average is €29.97.

The basket for 5GB of data, 100 calls and 140 SMS again by MTN, priced at €53.49, costs more than twice the EU average of €25.48.

Also, MTN’s Internet Everywhere package for 10GB of data only, priced at €63.05, costs more than three times the EU average of €20.56.

Cyta’s basket for 2GB, 100 calls and 140 SMS costs €30.40, which is around 10 euro more than the EU average of €20.06.

The company’s package for 5G of data only costs €43.92, while the EU average is estimated at €16.02.

Basket L3, 1GB

The least expensive offer comes from Italy (2,15 EUR/PPP) followed by Poland (4,17 EUR/PPP), Austria (5,35 EUR/PPP), and Finland (5,47 EUR/PPP). The EU28 average is 9,20 EUR. The most expensive offer comes from Cyprus where the least expensive basket is priced at more than 16 euro.

Basket L4, 2 GB

Italy leads this basket with 2,15 EUR/PPP, followed by Poland (4,17 EUR/PPP), and Bulgaria (6,46 EUR/PPP). Prices for the least expensive offer from the next twelve countries are very close, ranging from 7,38 EUR/PPP in the United Kingdom to 9,62 EUR/PPP in Finland. The EU28 average is 11.15 EUR, the premium for doubling data from 1 GB to 2 GB is just under two EUR.

Basket L5, 5 GB

The lowest-price lead in this usage basket is, again, Italy (2,15 EUR/PPP), followed by Poland (4,17 EUR/PPP) and Sweden (8,06 EUR/PPP). Six more countries (Slovenia, Latvia, Austria, France, Estonia, and Finland) have prices below 10 EUR/PPP. The EU28 average is 16.02 EUR/PPP. Almost all countries except one exhibit prices under 30 EUR/PPP. The most expensive market is Cyprus, where the price of the least expensive offer is 43,29 EUR/PPP.

Basket L6, 10 GB

Poland is the cheapest country in this basket, with an MNO offering 10 GB mobile data for 4,17 EUR/PPP. Poland is followed by Italy (5,06 EUR/PPP), Slovenia (8,88 EUR/PPP), and Latvia (8.90 EUR/PPP). Seventeen countries are below 20,00 EUR/PPP; ten countries exhibit prices between 20,00 EUR/PP and 40,00 EUR/PPP. The most expensive market here is Cyprus (63,05 EUR/PPP).

Basket L7, 20 GB

Cyprus, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are more than four times more expensive than Poland, France, Italy, Latvia, and Lithuania, which offer 20 GB mobile data for 15 EUR/PPP or less. The EU28 average is 27,76 EUR/PPP. Prices include surcharges for exceeding the data limit of an offer providing less than 20GB, typically in markets like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Cyprus where there is no offer providing up to 20 GB.

The EC divided EU countries into four clusters according to the their mobile broadband prices.

  1. The inexpensive countries are: Italy, Poland, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and Finland.
  2. The relatively inexpensive countries are: Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Germany, and Spain.
  3. The relatively expensive countries are: Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Croatia, Malta, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, and Slovakia.
  4. The expensive countries are: the Czech Republic and Cyprus.
  5. Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Hungary, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus have no offer belonging to the inexpensive cluster.

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