Bangladesh ranks 12th in terms of receiving data at low prices worldwide, according to the 'Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022' report by Cable.co.uk, a British organisation that reviews internet prices and speeds. On average, it costs about Tk. 33 (US $0.32) per gigabyte (GB) of mobile data in the country.

According to the 'Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022' report, India ranks 5th, Nepal 10th, Sri Lanka 11th, Pakistan 13th, Bhutan 19th, Afghanistan 64th and Maldives 145th in South Asia for providing cheap mobile internet.

However, Bangladesh ranks 125th among 139 countries in terms of mobile internet speed, according to the Speedtest global index released in September 2022 by Ookla. 

According to speedtest statistics, the rest of the countries in South Asia except Afghanistan have faster internet services than Bangladesh. Maldives is the fastest growing country in South Asia with internet speeds of 62.32 Mbps, whereas the speed in Bangladesh is 11.71 Mbps. The other South Asian countries are ranked as follows: Nepal 115th, Pakistan 116th, Sri Lanka 117th, India 118th and Afghanistan 137th.

In Bangladesh, mobile internet costs more than in France, Italy, and India, while the speed remains significantly slower compared to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Uganda. Apart from this, African countries like Uganda, Angola, Namibia, the Republic of Congo and Ethiopia are also ahead of Bangladesh in terms of high-speed internet service.

Cable.co.uk published the Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022 report after analysing the prices and information of thousands of mobile data in 233 countries and regions where the world's most expensive and cheapest mobile data is shown.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with several organisations and institutions, including Open Technology Institute, Google Inc., and Princeton University's Planet Lab.

Reasons for the price difference

Several factors come into play in determining the price of mobile data, infrastructure being one of them. Mobile networks are generally more dependent on fixed-line connections. Italy and India have a strong infrastructure for mobile networks. So mobile data is relatively cheap in these two countries. On the other hand, countries that rely on alternative systems such as satellites for mobile networks due to poor infrastructure or inadequate existing infrastructure have high data costs.

In countries where mobile data usage is higher than broadband internet, mobile data costs are also lower. However, prices are higher in places where mobile data usage is relatively low. Again, countries with higher per capita incomes have higher affordability and higher prices for mobile data purchases. Wealthy countries like the US, Canada, or Finland cost more mobile data than Yemen, Syria or San Marino.