Africa, Latin America have the highest local access prices, says TeleGeography

Getting access to local telecom network services is a necessity for service providers and businesses, but pricing can differ not only between regions and by country, but also in a specific metro market, a TeleGeography report says.

On the high end of the price scale are Africa and Latin America. In Johannesburg, the median price for an E1 is $669 per month; in Sao Paolo, it can reach $1,166 a month. On the high end, prices in these areas can scale to $1,300 and $2,700 per month.

Greg Bryan, TeleGeography analyst, said that "prices in developing markets in Africa and Latin America are significantly higher overall, and fall near the middle of a range of more evenly-distributed prices."

Telegeography local access prices

Alternatively, the research firm said that the lowest access prices are seen in South and East Asia. The price of an E1 circuit is $144 in Delhi, $224 in Hong Kong, and $256 a month in Tokyo. Despite their low median prices, they can still rise up to $1,906, $2,033, and $1,410 per month, respectively.

In Western markets such as New York, London, and Frankfurt, TeleGeography said that the median prices for E1 and T1 circuits "are often a bit higher than in Asian markets, but the price ranges are considerably narrower."

A T1 in New York costs $260, while the high price is $1,175. Likewise, in London, the median E1 price is $293 per month, while the high price is just over $1,400. In Frankfurt, the difference between the median price and high price is $845.

Bryan said a key determinant in pricing is how many service providers are present in a particular market.

"Competition is the primary determinant of access prices," Bryan said. "The presence or absence of competitive providers within a metro area can have a great effect on the monthly price customers pay."

For more:
- see the report

Related articles:
International telephony up 5%, but long-distance providers face threats from OTT
Wholesale IP transit service prices fall more than 50% in some cities
Submarine cabling boom drives down bandwidth prices in high cost regions
Sub-10 Mbps VPN connections still in high demand, says TeleGeography