Iran the numbers – and Persian internet is the cheapest in the world

Burkina Faso the most expensive, UK in top third cheapest

Tired of continual price hikes on your broadband deal? Then why not move to Iran? According to a study released today, it has the cheapest broadband.

The survey conducted by cable.co.uk and BDRC Continental ranked 196 countries on their monthly prices for a broadband connection, using 3,351 consumer packages tracked over eight weeks (ending October 12) to calculate the average.

At $5.37 (£4.05) a month, Iran beats second placed Ukraine at $5.52 a month, with both significantly cheaper than Russia at $9.82 a month.

Burkina Faso is last at 196th place, costing users $954.54 (£720.77) per month. Papua New Guinea is 195th, but much better at $597.20 (£450.95), then Namibia at $431.99 (£326.20). The UK comes in 62nd place, averaging £30.54 a month($40.44).

Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst for cable.co.uk, spoke to The Register to tell us why the peculiarities about the first and last placed nations.

"Every country has its own story," said Howdle, "but Iran is definitely a strange one. Because it is very insular, and it has the lowest value currency on the planet, it is very much able to do its own thing."

It is unusual for countries with low value or volatile currencies to sell broadband using them, Dan explained. Many countries in South America use US dollars to charge for internet packages to keep prices stable.

In Burkina Faso's case, the high prices are the fault of Africa's lack of cables. There is a large network that travels around the coast from India to Europe, but little penetration into the countries beyond the continent's edge.

Howdle explained: "In Ouagadougou (the country's capital), there is only one supplier, so they basically set their own prices. Most people use internet cafes or their mobile phones to connect to the internet, and then there are still many more outside the main cities who have no internet at all."

cable.co.uk previously released worldwide internet speeds in August of this year, with the winner being Singapore, and Yemen coming last. ®