Among 28 Asian Countries, Highest Level
Error in Calculation Due to Simple Average of Communication Plans
South Korea has been found to have the highest mobile data usage fee per 1GB among the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is also the highest among 28 countries in the Asia region.
According to the 'Global Mobile Data Price Comparison' by the UK-based cable and mobile analysis site cable.co.uk on the 11th, South Korea's average mobile data usage fee per 1GB last year was $12.55. This is an increase compared to two years ago. In 2020, South Korea ranked 3rd with $10.94, following Canada (12.55%) and Greece (12.06%). South Korea's data usage fee was more than four times higher than the OECD average ($2.55).
Based on the results from the survey organization, South Koreans paid the highest data usage costs among OECD member countries. Switzerland ($7.37), New Zealand ($6.72), Finland ($6.01), Canada ($5.94), Greece ($5.30), Norway ($4.44), and Japan ($3.85) followed. On the other hand, the country with the lowest cost was Israel ($0.04), followed by Italy ($0.12), France ($0.23), Turkey ($0.39), Poland ($0.41), and Denmark ($0.43). Three out of four Israelis own a smartphone, which is a higher smartphone penetration rate than in the United States.
South Korea's data usage cost is significantly higher than that of the United States ($5.62), Japan ($3.85), Germany ($2.67), Sweden ($1.88), Singapore ($0.61), and Australia ($0.57).
Among the 233 countries surveyed, South Korea ranked 10th in terms of the highest fees. Compared to the average mobile usage fee ($3.12), it was more than three times higher. The countries with the highest fees among all surveyed regions were island nations in Africa and South America. Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean, charges an average of $41.06, which is over 1,000 times the price in Israel for mobile data. The Falkland Islands charge $38.45 per 1GB.
Regarding these results, the telecommunications industry argued that there is an error in simply averaging the telecom plans of each country. They claim that countries selling a wider variety of plans tend to show higher fees per GB. The 'cable.co.uk' GB rate by country is calculated by dividing the total monthly fees sold by all telecom operators in the country by the GB rate provided by those plans, resulting in an average value. For example, if Telecom Company A sells a plan offering 300MB for 20,000 KRW per month and another plan offering 100GB for 60,000 KRW per month, the average GB fee for this company is about 34,000 KRW. If Telecom Company B sells only one plan offering 100GB for 60,000 KRW per month, its GB fee is only 600 KRW. The industry also explained that the 25% discount for selective contracts offered in Korea was not reflected.
A telecommunications industry official said, "The selection criteria are unclear and the sample sizes vary by country. Simple median calculations are not suitable for comparing telecom costs."
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