Snapshot: 2019 update on the affordability of Internet service in the Caribbean

A 2019 update of how affordable domestic fixed broadband Internet service is across the Caribbean.

 

Following on from our most recent Snapshot of Internet speed and pricing across the Caribbean, we are updating our finding on the affordability of Internet broadband service across the region, using the same group countries that were examined on our previous exercise.

 

Approach

In our most recent Snapshot: 2019 update of Internet speeds and pricing across the Caribbean, we examined the variation of fixed (wired and wireless) Internet download speeds and monthly pricing for select Internet plans across 20 Caribbean countries:  Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; Curaçao; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Montserrat; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Having examined monthly pricing, now we seek to determine the affordability of those Internet plans using the following approach:

1. The rates recorded are compared against estimated monthly income, using per capita Gross Domestic Product figures, sourced from the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, which will be used as proxies.
2. The resulting ratios are expressed as percentages, which indicate the proportion of a person’s income that would be spent on the stated plans, and hence indicates the extent to which it might be affordable to the average consumer.

In this year’s review, three exercises are conducted. In the countries examined, we wish to determine:

• the fastest Internet plan by download speed for no more than 5% of an individual’s monthly income
• the portion of an individual’s monthly income would be consumed by the slowest advertised download speed Internet plan; and
• the portion of an individual’s monthly income would be consumed by the fastest advertised download speed Internet plan.

 

How affordable is Internet service in 2019?

Figure 1 shows the fastest Internet plan that can be secured for no more than 5% of the average person’s income.

 

Although 20 countries were examined, five countries – Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Montserrat, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – did not have plans that satisfied the specified threshold. The fastest plan was recorded in Barbados, where for around 4.30% of a resident’s monthly income, a plan with an advertised download speed of 240 Mbps can be secured. On the other hand, the slowest plans were recorded in Jamaica, where a 1 Mbps plan would consume 4.83% of the average resident’s monthly income .

Second, using the data presented in our recently published Internet speeds and pricing Snapshot, Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the portion of an individual’s monthly income would be consumed by the slowest and the fastest advertised download speed Internet plans, respectively.

 

With regard to the slowest advertised download speed Internet plan, the least affordable plan was recorded in Belize, where a 512 kbps plan could consume up to 8.37% of a resident’s monthly income. On the other hand, the most affordable plan, 0.89% of an individual’s monthly income, but only providing a maximum download speed of 0.512 kbps, was recorded for the Cayman Islands. However, the fastest plan was recorded for Aruba at 100 Mbps, which would consume only 2.73% of the typical resident’s monthly income.

With regard to the fastest advertised download speed Internet plan, the least affordable plan was recorded in Jamaica, where a 400 Mbps plan could consume up approximately 25.4% of the typical resident’s monthly income.

 

However, the most affordable plan, which would consume around 4.4 % of an individual’s monthly income, was recorded in Aruba , for a plan with a maximum download speed of 150 Mbps. Further, the fastest plan available across the countries examined, 1 Gbps, was recorded in Barbados, where that plan would consume around 20.0% of the average resident’s monthly income.

 

 

Image credit:  Breakingpic (Pexels)