Mobile broadband prices in Europe 2018 : executive summary.
Date: 2018-02-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Subjects: Internet, Internet access provider, cost price, household consumption, information technology, mobile phone, report, sample survey, telecommunications, telecommunications equipment, telecommunications policy, transmission network

Mobile Broadband 
Prices in Europe 
2018 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

A study prepared for the European Commission 
DG Communications Networks, Content & 
Technology by:  

This study was carried out for the European Commission by 

empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in cooperation with TÜV Rheinland 

Internal identification 
Contract number: 30-CE-0832069/00-15 
SMART number 2016/0045 

DISCLAIMER 

by the European Commission, Directorate-General of Communications Networks, Content & Technology:  

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect 
the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in 
this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible 
for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

ISBN 978-92-79-85443-9 

doi: 10.2759/134315 

© European Union, 2017. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU.  

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.  Introduction 

The current study provides comprehensive data on 2018 retail prices of mobile broadband offers for 
consumers  in  the  EU28,  Iceland,  Norway,  Turkey,  Japan,  South  Korea,  and  the  USA.  The  two  or 
three largest Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in each country were included. In February 2018, 
data was collected from provider websites. 

These  offers  were  analysed  to  determine  the  least  expensive  offer  per  country  and  OECD  usage 
basket.  

To support valid cross-national comparison of retail prices of mobile broadband offers in each usage 
basket,  consistent  price  normalisation  procedures  were  applied.  These  take  full  account  of 
contractual features varying between offers which impact on consumer usage costs, such as one-off 
fees,  discounts,  contract  duration  and  limits  for  telephony  call  time,  numbers  of  SMS  and  data 
volumes uploaded or downloaded.  

2.  Results 

2.1  Average  and  least  expensive  price  per  OECD  usage  basket  and 

development of prices 

Figure 1 shows the average across EU28 Member States of the lowest price found in each Member 
State,  and  the  lowest  price  overall,  for  each  of  the  handset-based  OECD  usage  baskets.  Figure  2 
displays  the  EU28  averages  and  lowest  EU28  prices  for  data-only  baskets.  In  this  report,  these  EU 
average figures are used in international comparison and as reference when describing the market in 
an EU Member State.  

Figure 1 – EU28 average and least expensive prices for handset-based baskets, VAT included 

Basket 

Least expensive 
[EUR/PPP] 

EU28 average 
2018 [EUR/PPP] 

EU28 average 
2017 [EUR/PPP] 

Variation 
2017/18 

100MB, 30 calls 

500 MB, 100 calls 

1 GB, 300 calls 

2 GB, 900 calls 

2 GB, 100 calls 

5 GB, 100 calls 

4.10 

7.08 

8.32 

9.36 

7.08 

7.08 

12.20 

16.64 

22.32 

29.87 

20.06 

25.48 

14.11 

-14% 

17.62 

23.62 

31.39 

-6% 

-6% 

-5% 

23.93 

-16% 

31.80 

-20% 

 
 
Figure 2 - EU28 average and least expensive prices for data-only baskets, VAT included 

Basket 

Least expensive 
[EUR/PPP] 

EU28 average 2018 
[EUR/PPP] 

EU28 average 2017 
[EUR/PPP] 

Variation 
2017/18 

250 MB 

500 MB 

1 GB 

2 GB 

5 GB 

10 GB 

20 GB 

1.47 

2.15 

2.15 

2.15 

2.15 

4.17 

8.34 

7.40 

7.75 

9.20 

11.15 

16.02 

20.56 

27.76 

8.18 

-10% 

8.97 

-14% 

9.65 

-5% 

12.66 

-12% 

16.74 

21.77 

-4% 

-6% 

33.12 

-16% 

Mobile broadband was significantly cheaper in 2018 than in 2017 in all OECD usage baskets. 

2.2 Analysis of the results: Least expensive countries in Europe 

Applying the normalised prices in Euro, measured in PPP, it was discovered that the least expensive 
countries  for  mobile  broadband  in  the  EU  in  2018  were  Italy,  Poland,  Austria,  France,  the  United 
Kingdom, Luxembourg, and Finland. Prices differ considerably between the least and most expensive 
countries in the EU.  

In the following table (Figure 3), green symbols indicate the cluster1 of countries with the least 
expensive offers for the usage basket in question and red the cluster with the most expensive offers. 
Blue and orange are used for the cluster of countries with relatively inexpensive and relatively 
expensive offers, respectively. When looking at the cluster ratio2, some general observations can be 
made. 

1  

2  

k-means clustering was used with k=4; observations (offer categories) are assigned to clusters so as to 
minimise the average squared Euclidean distance of observations to each cluster centroid 

The cluster ratio represents the average of a country's membership in a cluster over all OECD usage 
baskets. The minimum value is 1, which means that the country is in the cheapest cluster each time; the 
maximum value is 4, which means that the country is in the most expensive country cluster for each 
bundle of use. 

  4 

 
 
 
 
                                                           
Figure 3 - Clusters of countries by price level over all usage baskets 

 

Italy,  Poland,  Austria,  France,  the  United  Kingdom,  Luxembourg,  and  Finland  have  the 
most attractive prices overall, with a cluster ratio of 1.67 or less.  

  Slovenia,  Latvia,  Estonia,  Lithuania,  Romania,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Bulgaria,  Germany, 
Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands follow with a cluster ratio of 2.61 or less. Apart from 
Bulgaria,  Germany,  Belgium,  Spain,  and  the  Netherlands,  these  countries  have  at  least 
two offers belonging to the cheapest cluster 

  The next group has very heterogeneous members, with a ratio of 2.9 or less. It includes 

Ireland, Croatia, Malta, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, and Croatia. 

  Spain,  Belgium,  Ireland,  Hungary,  Portugal,  Hungary,  Greece,  Slovakia,  the  Czech 

Republic, and Cyprus have no offer belonging to the inexpensive cluster. 

  No country is in the inexpensive or expensive cluster for all the OECD usage-baskets. 

  5 

 
 
 
Averaging  across  all  OECD  usage  baskets  and  distinguishing  the  four  major  clusters  reveals  the 
pattern shown in the map (Figure 4) below. 

 

 

 

 

The  inexpensive  countries  are:  Italy,  Poland,  Austria,  France,  the  United  Kingdom, 
Luxembourg, and Finland. 

The relatively inexpensive countries are: Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, 
Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Germany, and Spain. 

The  relatively  expensive  countries  are:  Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  Ireland,  Croatia, 
Malta, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, and Slovakia. 

The expensive countries are: the Czech Republic and Cyprus. 

  No country is in the inexpensive or expensive cluster for all the OECD usage-baskets. 

 

Spain,  Belgium,  Ireland,  Hungary,  Portugal,  Hungary,  Greece,  Slovakia,  the  Czech 
Republic, and Cyprus have no offer belonging to the inexpensive cluster. 

Figure 4 – Map of country clusters 

  6 

 
 
 
 
 
2.2.1  Results: The EU compared with selected non-EU countries 

Comparison  of  EU28  prices  with  prices  in  selected  non-EU  countries  in  2018  yielded  the  following 
picture: 

On average, mobile broadband in the EU28 is about as or more expensive than in the non-EU 
countries for most of the OECD usage baskets. No offers adapted to the lowest OECD usage levels 
were found in South Korea and the United States. 

  7 

 
 
 
European Commission 

Mobile Broadband Prices in Europe 2018 
Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union 

2018 – 9 pages  

ISBN 978-92-79-85443-9 
doi: 10.2759/134315 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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doi: 10.2759/134315                       ISBN 978-92-79-85443-9