QCOSTARICA – Costa Rica is the only country in Central America where 1 Gigabit (GB) of mobile data has a cost of 0.7% of the country’s average monthly income, according to the most recent Prosic report: Towards the Information and Knowledge Society 2021 published by the University of Costa Rica (UCR).
In the context of Internet affordability, that is, whether it is accessible or cheap, a value calculated by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) is the cost of 1 Gigabit (GB) of data mobiles.
Based on this calculation, the threshold “1 by 2” was set, defined by the UN Broadband Commission, in which it is determined that 1 GB of mobile data should not cost more than 2% of the average monthly income from a country.
According to the entity, which promotes affordable access to the Internet for everyone in the world, the Internet is a necessity and not a luxury, in the context of the new digital age.
For its part, 1 GB of mobile data is equivalent to 3.14% in El Salvador; 3.51% in Guatemala; 4.42% in Belize; 5.39% in Nicaragua, and in Honduras, which would be the country with the most expensive mobile Internet for its population, equivalent to 9.66%.
This means that in El Salvador and Guatemala 1 GB of data is almost five times more expensive for its population than it is in Costa Rica, and in Honduras it is almost 14 times.
“Without a doubt, the relatively more affordable cost of the Internet in Costa Rica has a positive impact on the digital divide; particularly in the impact that income has on the possibilities that Costa Rican households have of acquiring the service,” explained Alejandro Amador, researcher at Prosic-UCR.