The Economist’s Internet Affordability Rankings ⇥ theinclusiveinternet.eiu.com
I have no idea what the Economist’s Intelligence Unit was drinking when they put together their ranking of internet service affordability worldwide, but I’m sure it was something strong. The biggest tell that this list is completely upside down? Canada, of all places, ranks number one, well above nations like Korea, Japan, and Singapore that are known for having ubiquitous low-cost high-speed internet connections.
Without a definitive explanation from the horse’s mouth, it’s hard to know exactly why the EIU chose to differ so vastly from other findings in competitive environments.
One possibility is that the organization simply counted the total number of wired and wireless providers in Canada without accounting for their limited regional scope.
Rather than three national wireless providers, for example, Canada could thus be considered to have at least eight if Eastlink, Videotron, Freedom, MTS and Sasktel are counted. Taken at face value, that looks like a very competitive market. Of course, any Canadian knows better.
I pay $78 Canadian per month for my 60 Mbps connection. For comparison, Japan’s Softbank offers a 100 Mbps plan for the equivalent of about $43. A 50 Mbps DSL connection is available from Germany’s O2 provider for the equivalent of less than $50 per month.
This study is ludicrous. Internet access in Canada is many things, but “affordable” it is not.