According to the International Telecommunication Union’s 2015 report Measuring the Information Society, South Africans pay $9.12 a month for 500 megabytes of mobile data. That’s more than people in many other, poorer African countries. In Mozambique, for instance, monthly costs are about $3.19, the ITU says. In a ranking that took into account data costs, gross national income and purchasing power parity adjustments on exchange rates, South Africa rated more unaffordable than most African states.

South Africa, along with the Seychelles, Gabon, Cape Verde and Botswana, is one of the few African countries where broadband plans account for less that 5% of a user’s monthly income, according to the survey. Indeed, South Africans spend on average just 1.48% of their income on mobile broadband, but they argue that their internet usage costs are still too high. Prices are higher than in poorer countries, such as South Africa’s neighbor  Mozambique, where people spend 6.28% of their income on mobile broadband. As the income of Mozambicans rises over time, this percentage is likely to come down, the ITU says, as long as broadband prices remain low.

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