Straits Times wrote a report on Tuesday citing that Singapore now provides one of the world’s cheapest home broadband connections. (link)
The report writes, “with a monthly fee of $49.99, the cost of each Mbps in MyRepublic’s plan is now down to five cents, compared with the previous low of 13.9 cents for each Mbps with SingTel’s 500Mbps plan, which costs $69.95 a month.”
Is it one of the cheapest or one of the most expensive?
Arguably, there may be something that is wrong with the headline, because as I understand it – if you compare the cheapest broadband plan cost on a monthly basis – Singapore may be one of the most expensive. (Not even in reference to wage that one would get in the country)
In other words, we should be comparing what is the cheapest that one can pay for broadband, instead of just comparing the cost per Mbs.
Comparison speaks for itself?
The report broke down the cost for each Mbps for different countries; 2.5 cents in South Korea, three cents in Japan and and 3.5 cents in Hong Kong.
How can we be given the impression in the article that Singapore now provides one of the world’s cheapest home broadband connections alongside other Asian technohubs with today’s launch of MyRepublic’s 1Gbps plan when Singapore’s at 5 cents is 50 to 43 per cent higher than the Asian countries – South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong?
And how is it that we can use the highest speed plan to come to the conclusion that Singapore’s broadband is “one of the world’s cheapest”? Shouldn’t we be comparing price for lower speed plans as well?
So for a change, let us look at the plans that the countries and companies used in comparison have for their cheapest plan for 100mbps.
| Location | Service Provider | Cost for 100 mbps |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | CJ Hello Vision | 13500 KRW (16.2 SGD) |
| Japan | So-net Entertainment | 3570 YEN (43.5 SGD) |
| Hong Kong | HKBN | 188 HKD (30.8 SGD) |
| Singapore | M1 | 59 SGD |
| Kansas City, United States | Google Fibre | Free* (5mbps) |
*There is no 100 mbps option for Google Fibre but users can get free internet at 5 mbps
In this regard, how many in Singapore subscribe to the highest speed plan and how little can subscribers pay to have decent internet access speed?
Uniquely Singapore!
By Leong Sze Hian
