India at 5th spot for lowest mobile data prices worldwide: Report

NEW DELHI: Amid the 5G spectrum auction, India has been ranked fifth for the cheapest mobile data pricing in the world, says a new report.

According to the report by Cable.co.uk, the five cheapest countries in terms of the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data are Israel ($0.04), Italy ($0.12), San Marino ($0.14), Fiji ($0.15), and India ($0.17) in the Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022 list.

"Israel has been a global leader in the provision of 5G and continues to top the global table when it comes to the price of data as well. In comparison, much of India's population relies on mobile data to get online, fuelling demand and hence keeping prices low," the platform said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the five most expensive countries in terms of the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data are Saint Helena ($41.06), the Falkland Islands ($38.45), Sao Tome and Principe ($29.49), Tokelau ($17.88) and Yemen ($16.58).

The researchers uncovered four main country archetypes -- excellent infrastructure, heavy reliance, small consumption, and wealthy economy -- that go the greatest distance to explaining the expense, or lack of, mobile data across the globe.

The report said that Asian nations made up a third of the top 20 cheapest countries for mobile data, with both India ($0.17) and Nepal ($0.27) in the top ten.

Only three Asian countries are more expensive than the global average of $3.12 -- Japan ($3.85), British Indian Ocean Territory ($5.00) and South Korea, the most expensive in the region at $12.55.

In February, India's leading telecom operator Reliance Jio introduced the country's cheapest prepaid recharge plan, which cost Re 1 and had a validity of 30 days. The most affordable recharge plan offers 100 MB of data with 30 days of validity. Meanwhile, a MTNL plan is said to offer 90 days validity that will be available for only Rs 47.