IT Expert Reacts to Report that Indonesia Ranks 17th in Cheapest Mobile Data Plans
Translator
Editor
17 November 2023 07:21 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Information technology or IT expert from the Indonesia ICT Institute, Heru Sutadi, responded to a recent study by a UK-based price comparison website Cable which ranked Indonesia 17th in the world for the cheapest mobile data tariffs with an average price per GB of US$0.28, or equal to Rp4,357 at an assumed exchange rate of Rp15,561 per US dollar.
Heru, however, raised concerns about the report, underlining that the comparison of mobile data tariffs in the archipelago needs to be done in detail. He said the government has never even revealed the real figures of the average tariffs of the telecommunications industry in the country.
“So it is actually quite difficult to say whether the Internet in Indonesia is cheap or still expensive,” Heru told Tempo on Thursday, November 16.
Heru also pointed out that foreign researchers sometimes only look at one price and do not examine the actual price Indonesians pay to use broadband services. “This may need to be criticized in reports or research carried out abroad,” he added.
Furthermore, he stressed the importance of calculating the purchasing power parity in each country, including Indonesia. This could also be one of the factors why mobile data tariffs are more expensive in England, for example, because people's monthly income is higher.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the regional minimum wage is around Rp5 million, and in many regions, the wage is even lower.
The Cable reported the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data which was calculated from more than 5,600 cellular data plans worldwide and measured from June to September 2023.
On its official website, the Cable listed the twenty cheapest countries in the world in terms of the average cost of 1GB of mobile data as follows:
1. Israel (US$0.02);
2. Italy (US$0.09);
3. Fiji (US$0.09);
4. San Marino (US$0.1);
5. Cambodia (US$0.12);
6. Pakistan (US$0.12);
7. India (US$0.16);
8. Kyrgyzstan (US$0.17);
9. France (US$0.2);
10. Colombia(US$ 0.2).
11. Haiti (US$0.22);
12. Bangladesh(US$0.23);
13. Sri Lanka (US$0.25);
14. Laos (US$0.25);
15. Russia (US$0.25);
16. Ukraine (US$0.27);
17. Indonesia (US$0.28);
18. Uruguay (US$0.28);
19. Moldova (US$0.28); and
20. Malaysia (US$0.28).
MOH. KHORY ALFARIZI
Editor's Choice: Indonesia Ranks Low on Internet Speed, Kominfo Claims Unfair
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
