The Cost of Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband has changed internet landscape of Pakistan. Just one year since the spectrum launch and number of broadband users have more than doubled. Having your phone simply turn into a high-speed broadband service makes a major difference to way you can access the internet.

But is it cost-effective?

Residential Broadband

Compared to residential broadband service, mobile broadband is not cost effective. To give you an idea, check the following table of residential broadband

ISP	Package	Monthly Rent	Data Cap	Average Cost per Gigabyte
PTCL	2 Mbps Unlimited	Rs. 1,549/-	300 GB	Rs. 5.163 per Gigabyte
Qubee	2 Mbps Conquer Max	Rs. 1,800/-	70 GB	Rs. 25.7 per Gigabyte
Wi-Tribe	2 Mbps Unlimited	Rs. 2,099/-	45 GB	Rs. 46.64 per Gigabyte
Worldcall	2 Mbps	Rs. 1,000/-	No limit (assuming 300 GB)	Rs. 3.33 per Gibabyte

For consistency only 2 Mbps speed packages have been compared and their average cost calculated. Worldcall actually has no data cap for residential broadband, though for consistency sake the data cap was assumed equal to PTCL’s.

As evident, wired residential broadband is quite cheap with rates as low as Rs. 3 per GB while Wimax services are a bit expensive. Still, these are manageable costs.

Cost of Mobile Broadband

Compared to residential broadband, mobile broadband particularly Dongles, Wingles and MiFi devices are in a whole different price bracket. The following table will shed light on average data cost of the four 3G service providers with Dongles, Wingles and MiFi offerings.

ISP	Package	Cost	Data Cap	Average Cost per Gigabyte
Mobilink	Best Internet Bundle	Rs. 1,500/-	15 GB	Rs. 100 per Gigabyte
Telenor	Connect 3G	Rs. 1,500/-	30 GB	Rs. 50 per Gigabyte
Zong	3G Wingle Starter Pack	Rs. 1,500/-	20 GB	Rs. 75 per Gigabyte
Warid	Wingle Smart	Rs. 1,500/-	15 GB	Rs. 100 per Gigabyte

For consistency, only packages of price Rs. 1,500/- were compared. As evident, each GB data is more expensive for mobile broadband than residential, the lowest package more expensive than the expensive Wimax internet.

It is good to have internet on the go, one that you can plug-and-play whenever needed, but it comes with a higher price tag. When choosing a mobile broadband package, it is not only the coverage that should be considered but also the cost of using internet.

Do you use any mobile broadband package? Is the price agreeable to you? Let us know in the comments below.