Australians paying some of the highest prices in the world for home broadband

Australians are paying among the highest prices in the world for home Internet plans according to a new analysis that checked the pricing of 364 Internet service providers in 85 countries.

The study conducted by Picodi, shows Australians are paying on average the third highest price in the world for a 100Mbps internet plan per month at $US61.80.

The only countries paying more Norway ($US79.40) and Iceland ($US61.10).

Other nations like the US ranked 6^th ($US50), the UK 13^th ($US46.30) and Japan 30^th ($US32.10)

It is recognised that 100Mbps is the most frequently offered speed around the world provided in 74 out of the 85 countries despite the average Internet speed worldwide sitting at 85Mbps.

The lowest prices for 100Mbps plans can be found in Romania ($US6.40 per month), Ukraine ($US6.10) and Russia ($US5.60).

But to watch movies in 4K on the streaming platforms, a viewer requires bandwidth between 15 and 50Mbps.

The next most common Internet speed offered by ISP’s around the world is 250Mbps which costs $US76.70 a month on average.

But there is some good news. Gigabit Internet has become 62 per cent cheaper in Australia over the last four years.

Gigabit speeds are now being offered in 50 per cent more countries in that time.

In Australia, the cheapest access to a 1Gbps plan is $US81.90 which is $A129 per month.

This pricing is the fourth highest in the world behind Philippines ($US105.7), Austria ($US91.7) and Norway ($US91).

Ukraine has the cheapest access to 1Gbps ($US8.20 per month) followed by Romania ($US8.20) and Russia ($US10.2).