The most recent mobile broadband price benchmarking results from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) shows that while service speeds have grown dramatically over the past year, users are paying less for them.

The average monthly cost for a tablet user needing 2GB per month has fallen 4% since the same period last year, to USD PPP 17.79, while average advertised speed for the same basket has risen by a massive 123%, to 26 Mb/s. For a laptop user requiring 5GB per month, the cost has fallen by 9%, and currently averages USD PPP 25.24, while the speed has risen by 35%over the year, and now stands at just under 24 Mb/s.

“We are seeing some very dramatic movements with mobile broadband pricing,” says Strategy Analytics Teligen Director Halvor Sannaes. “The impact of 4G rollouts on speed is very evident, with some providers offering download in excess of 100 Mb/s. What is perhaps surprising, though, is that these big increases in speed are not resulting in extra costs for users. Of course, this will vary by provider, but the overall trend is clear”.

Senior Tariff Consultant Josie Sephton adds: “The area of mobile pricing is very exciting at the moment. We are seeing a lot of innovation in pricing structures, around things like speed tiering and data share plans, as providers look at how best they can monetize revenues from data, and encourage greater use.”