The telecommunications industry has truly made the world a smaller place, and for retirees overseas this has been an incredible blessing, but its far from a level playing field, with huge variations on the quality of service and the fees that are charged. Akamai Technologies recently published their latest update on the ‘State of the Internet’, which provides a ranking of global internet speeds. Sadly, despite the ongoing rollout of the NBN, Australia dropped to 48th place, and not only that, the cost for using mobile and internet services in Australia remains stubbornly high. So how does South East Asia compare?
Internet Speed
Speed is usually broken down into two key measurements;
- ‘Average’ download speed
- ‘Peak’ internet speed
The global ‘average’ speed is 5.6 mbps (megabits per second). Australia currently operates at around an average speed of 8.2, and a peak of 41 mbps. On the surface this seems ok, but world best practice has South Korea at an average speed of 23, and in Singapore the peak speed is over 135 mbps.
Ok that’s world best practice, but what’s it like in South East Asia?
Thailand has an average above 9, with a peak speed of 58 mbps. Bali has an average in line with Australia, but its peak is around 80 mbps. Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have averages and peaks below Australia, but still around the world average. And for those interested, a new fast and reliable cable linking Cambodia with the rest of the world is due to begin operating in early 2017.Cost for connection
Its all very well having fast and reliable internet access, but how much does it cost? And for that matter, how much does it cost for using a mobile phone? Now this is where it gets interesting.
Lets compare the prices for using 1 minute of prepaid mobile (local tariff, no discounts or plans), and using the internet (10 mbps, unlimited data, Cable/ADSL) in Australia, with a number of countries in South East Asia.
- In Australia (using the above measures), mobile costs on average A$0.83 per 1 minute, and A$67.13 for the internet.
- In Thailand, Bali, Malaysia and Cambodia, your mobile costs are between 85% and 90% cheaper. In the Philippines its about 75% cheaper.
- For the internet, you can expect to pay 65% less in Thailand, 42% less in Malaysia and Bali, and about the same in the Philippines.
Staying connected with family and friends
Whether you love using Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Zoom, email, text or simply making a call, technology is allowing us to keep our family and friends close, no matter where we choose to live. And moving to Asia can not only reduce your costs to use this technology, in some cases its even faster and more reliable.
