Spain, one of the OECD's most expensive countries - for broadband

SPAIN We sort of knew this, didn't we? Spain is third in the OECD's ranking of charges for broadband service, next to Norway and Chile. Third out of the organization's 34 countries, according to its Communications Outlook 2013, which reports data for 2012. The ranking applies to the most common speeds: 2.5 megabits per second and 6GB capacity, for which Spain charges $52 (€39.8) in terms of purchasing power parity. At the other end of the ranking are Estonia ($19.23, €17.47), Slovakia ($16.83, €12.91) and Korea ($16.35, €12.53). Spain goes down the list as speeds and capacities increase, though this could be as the result of a lack of availability of the higher speeds and capacities other than in main cities. As for mobile broadband with a 2GB capacity, Spain is at the very top with charges amounting to $34.45 (€26.43), ahead of the USA ($33.61, €25.78), Japan ($33.20, €25.46). This compared to Finland's charges ($7.11, €5.45), Luxembourg's ($8.48, €6.50) and Estonia's ($9.04, €6.93). Operating companies make excuses>>>
such as that these figures are taken from August and September 2012, before their campaigns joining broadband with landline services, which, they say, have greatly contributed to a reduction of prices in the Spanish Market.

'Questionable' analysis

Other operator sources have pointed out that the OECD study is 'questionable' inasmuch as that it doesn't reflect the present Spanish market. Also, they say, it now makes little analytical sense to study their services one by one, as the market now contracts more 'package deals' than anything else.

The head of Spain's Telecommunications Market Commission, Bernardo Lorenzo, declared recently that, while very high in the past, prices for mobile and landline services in Spain had come down by 14% and 7% respectively, in 2012.

Mobile wi-fi broadband demand grows exponentially

The demand for mobile broadband, says the OECD, must remain open and competitive in order to supply a growing market, as well as to encourage progress in innovation.

The report also reveals that the operators' income from data transmission services has grown by two figures in most of the OECD countries, in line with growth from the wireless broadband sector, which is bound to grow much further in the near future.

The report concludes that it may be necessary for national authorities and telecommunications regulators to intervene in the market to ensure that there is enough supply to meet the demand, particularly in those countries whetre network access competition is lacking.

(Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: Communications Outlook 2013)