Contrary to widely held speculation that Nigeria has one of the cheapest internet in the world, a report tagged “the Digital Quality of Life Index” composed by Surfshark has shown otherwise.
The Surfshark report takes into account the quality of digital wellbeing in 85 countries which constitutes 81% of the world’s population.
The report shows that an average Nigerian need to work for 27 minutes 55 seconds to afford 1GB of mobile internet.
It also shows that to pay for the cheapest broadband Internet, Nigerians have to work for 33 hours 42 minutes.
Meanwhile, the global average for affordable mobile internet is 10 minutes per one Gigabyte.
The overall affordability is measured by combining the affordability of the cheapest mobile and broadband plans available in Nigeria.
However, it is noteworthy that people in 75% of the researched countries have to work more than the global average to be able to afford the Internet.
Commenting on the finding published by ITNewsAfrica, the CEO of Surfshark, Mr. Vytautas Kaziukonis said:
“Any country’s digital advancement has a tangible relation to its economic potential and population’s overall wellbeing.
“In the COVID-19 era, it’s even more important as most of the employees face working full time online.
“Since work from home realities vary widely by location, Surfshark’s research on internet affordability and quality aims to establish a common ground for further conversation.”
Despite the relatively high cost of internet, though, the average Nigerian user faces a recurring risk of increment as internet providers regularly plot to increase the price of tariff.
Lawmakers at the National Assembly had, on more than one occasion, intervened to stop proposed increment.