One thing that Local Access Pricing Service subscribers get a feel for is how many truly local factors drive pricing for metro access services.
The number of competing access suppliers, physical infrastructure deployed, technologies used, local or national regulatory regimes, and even customer spend contribute to price variation. Prices differ not only by country and city, but in many cases even by individual building.
In examining the latest in local access pricing trends, one thing remains clear: geography matters.
Access prices differ significantly by location
In H1 2016, the median market price for a 10 Mbps Ethernet circuit in the central business district (0-5 km) ranged from $106 in South Asia to $1,531 in the Northern Africa.
Even within subregions, prices can differ considerably.
In the relatively mature Western Europe market, medians ranged from $168 in the core market of London, to a high of $1,008 in Athens. Less developed subregions came in with the most variance in pricing, led by the Middle East, South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Access prices also vary considerably by country
The lowest medians among 10 Mbps Ethernet MRCs are typically found in major global internet hubs. In H1 2016, Denmark and Japan were among the least expensive countries at $211 and $240, respectively. India, while not typically seen as a central internet hub, once again boasted the lowest access prices in the world, with a median of $109.
The highest metro prices were reported in the Middle East and Latin America. In H1 2016, median 10 Mbps Ethernet prices were $6,848 in Qatar, while Uruguay weighed in at $3,050.
Greg Bryan
Greg is Senior Manager, Enterprise Research at TeleGeography. He's spent the last decade and a half at TeleGeography developing many of our pricing products and reports about enterprise networks. He is a frequent speaker at conferences about corporate wide area networks and enterprise telecom services. He also hosts our podcast, TeleGeography Explains the Internet.