iPad data cost by country analyzed and charted
By Donald Melanson 
posted August 2nd 2010 4:14PM
posted August 2nd 2010 4:14PM
Sure, you may already have a general idea of how countries stack up when it comes to iPad data costs, but sometimes there's nothing like a good chart to drive a point home. Thankfully, the folks at Tableau have done just that and, while there may not be a lot of surprises, the differences in cost are certainly striking. As you can see in more detail in the interactive chart after the break, the United States just barely cracks the top five with a minimum cost of $12.50 per gigabyte, leaving it behind only the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France, which comes out on top at a hefty $25.47 per gigabyte. As for the cheapest iPad data in the world? That honor goes to Singapore, where you can use a gigabyte of data for a mere 51 cents. As PC Magazine notes, that figure is a tad misleading, since it's based on SingTel's cheapest pre-paid plan that gives you unlimited access for three days -- although that itself is still a welcome change from most other countries.
dans le derrière!
@shishi
Tu m'étonnes !
Let's all prepare for a french national scandal when this chart hits the medias.
@ok old news again
you have to be a failure at life to care about what other people care about.
(yes I get the ironi of the statement)
@shishi
Where's Finland? We'd have a rate of 14eur/month for full network speed and supposedly unlimited quota. I guess you can do about 5 to 10GB depending on the operator.
@shishi
Meh, just use MyWi (or any other WiFi tethering device for that matter) with the WiFi version of the iPad if you're on a mobile internet contract already. At least that's what I'm doing to avoid the insane $20 per GB here in the Netherlands.
@angelusp
Even when the previous post is inappropriate, yours is out of place also.
It is a company, and some hardware. They only care about your money. You can admire them, but not love, hate, cry and go to war for them... unless of course they pay you for it.
Luck!
Guimo
Gosh! And, here, I thought the data charges in Singapore was expensive.....
@shishi Mexico - telcel somewhere around $80 (US dollars) not kidding telmex/telcel has the most expensive data plans in the world
@ok old news again What was that? An oversized iPod touch? Bet you haven't used an iPad before let alone an iPod to compare the two
So, AT&T wanna say they have good price?
When company have trouble with their price, they tend to compare with other countries....
So is there anything about the iPad you guys won't post about?
I mean, "Are you paying too much?" Really? As if moving to Singapore to pay less for your iPad is really an option?
@bradicus
Well it is indicative of data rates in general. Although we in the US apparently dont' have it as bad as it could be, I still think it's ridiculous how much we have to pay for just a few GB of data. And don't get me started on how ludicrous prepaid data rates are.
@paul34
Fair enough - but is this a comparison of $/GB, or $/GB specifically for the iPad? Is there even a meaningful difference?
@bradicus I believe it is a convenient way to compare no committment, tablet data options. The other stuff is way too complicated (most countries don't distinguish between smartphone / laptop data, tethering is sometimes ok, sometimes not etc.) Just look at it as the BigMac Index for 3G data.
What it shows? Well, AT&T is shafting the US customers. Not as badly as the French but certainly nowhere in the "decent" category.
@bradicus
I think the real point is about competition. Just notice how multiple operators from the same country are all bunched together and as the number of operators from the same country comes down, the price goes up... In short, get the iPad on t-mobile, verizon and see the price coming down...
@bradicus "As if moving to Singapore to pay less for your iPad is really an option?"
No, but I am moving to Germany from New Zealand at the end of the year. For the beer not the data plans though.
My thanks to everybody for the thoughtful replies. While I think it's interesting to compare international data rates - especially as carriers start moving away from unlimited data plans! - it just seems like a comparison of data plans exclusively for the iPad doesn't really represent the general cost of 3G data.
If we're talking truly talking about 3G data rate costs, lets look at some other tablet type devices. What about the Dell Streak, or comparable tablet options? I think the Streak AT&T too, so presumably it'll fall under the same category as the iPad, but I'm not sure about other countries.
Then theres the tethering option for android (and blackberry, I think users) - free tethering apps are available and go straight off your phone's 3G connection (which for most carriers is still unlimited, if I recall correctly). Hell, get an android phone and a wifi-only iPad, use the android wi-fi hotspot option - what's the cost of your 3G data now?
I'm just feeling like it might be relevant to point out alternatives, because it appears that AT&T/iPad lockdown is reason for the expensive plans.
It seems people pay more with fruits... Hmm.. :P
Germany: $1.09
France: $25.47
holy crap france, get your game together.
@kirbyatemytoothbrush
Also, it seems that countries with multiple carriers are all feature lower prices. With free competition, the consumer always wins.
@kirbyatemytoothbrush Except in Holland, where all 4 carriers have got together to offer crap service. Just compare Vodafone NL with Vodafone Germany - they're profiteering from a market that's used to be screwed.
J'aime dépenser trop d'argent !
Or you could get wifi only...
Does any body know what frequencies an iPad 3G(?) sold in Shanghai or Hong Kong would operate on? I am a pilot and go to one or the other monthly and could even bring it back there for warranty if necessary. I despise ATT and have sworn not to give them another nickel for the rest of my life. Many airline people have an unlocked phone and a SIM card collection for all the countries they go to, would this work with an "international" iPad? Is there a best country, that would have the most frequencies installed, to buy it in?
No I don't want to tether or carry around a Mifi type device, the iPad would be instead of a smartphone, which I don't have.
@Whut
no, unless those sim cards are micro-sim cards. I dont think they would want you cutting them down to fit either....
@Whut
The iPad could operate on 850, 1900, 2100 MHz (UMTS), while Hong Kong's 3G networks are using UMTS2100.
http://www.apple.com/hk/en/ipad/specs/
@Whut
You don't have to give AT&T a dime even if you buy it in the US...because Apple sells it without a carrier lock. It comes with an AT&T micro-sim in the tray, but you can put whatever 3FF you want in it without a problem. I just used mine in Brazil with a Vivo micro-sim (much cheaper than the rip-off hotel wi-fi they had in Rio).
@leunglwl
Thank you! Who do you think the most reputable reseller would be?
1900 is the T-Mobile band in the US, this plan is coming together.
Price is about the same as US.
Anybody from Shanghai?
@Draper I could have sworn that when it first came out in the US it was 850 only, I just went back and rechecked the US Specs and now it says
850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz. Would a T-Mobile (cut down) sim work in this now?
@Whut ain't from Shanghai but working in China for the time being. There's only rumors that iPad will release in China on the 1st of Sept. The iPads selling here is "import" from other countries mainly Hong Kong. So if you are seriously thinking about getting one I would suggest you get it in HK but there's a 7 days wait if you buy from Apple online store(HK), don't think any retail shops got any stock for now
Is it just me or has engadget been going out of their way to defend AT&T lately?
I guess being paid off by Apple AND AT&T is just good business.
@Jordus
This is an old article actually. Ars Technica posted this about 2 days ago.
the top image is misleading. I was thinking... holy shit NZ is amongst one of the cheapest!... then I read on
@shithead Who the hell make a chart that goes green, white, red?
@shithead What makes it worse is that you have to get the 3GB a month for $50NZD to get that "low" rate. The only other plan is a measly 250MB for $20NZD a month and there is no such thing as an unlimited mobile data plan in this country. God I'm glad I'm moving overseas soon.
sharing through JB iphone, 0 additional cost
@htd
yet it's still a butthurt
As for Belgium, the survey basically picked one of the worst money-hogging carriers out there (Mobistar). For example, that same gigabyte would only cost 15.81 USD on Mobile Vikings (a smaller carrier), which would put us out of the red zone. Puts things into perspective a bit. ;)
@Dries let's hate some more on Mobistar!
Man I hate the price they sell those iPhones at, and the rates they give there aren't any better!
@DeanXeL In Belgium iPhones are not locked (yet), so instead of just whining about mobistar you can do something about it: choose another carrier. That's the great thing about non-subsidized phones.
Funny how T-mobile offeres 1$/G B in austria but 20$/gb in the US!
@Matt314
It's not funny in the slightest bit... this is what happens when corporations are allowed to set up pseudo monopolies in which they pretend to compete with each other but instead collude to keep costs high.
@Hazdaz what you say may be true... but it's still funny
So once again the U.S. is getting screwed by AT&T
EU will fix this.
@JFH
i agree , it would be interesting to see what the rates are in france in say two years , i would bet they might be alot lower , As the EU has said many times it wants carriers in its members countries , offering close to the same rates ,and its already brought in standard roaming rates,
i can see the EU setting tighter caps on what mobile companies can charge soon.
Forget France, Belgium and the Netherlands here...
... the main story is that we here in the US are paying 2X what our neighbors Canada and Mexico are paying, and about 10X what countries like Spain, Ireland, Germany and Japan are spending.
And this isn't just the cost of data for the iPad, but rather indicative of how badly we get raped on data costs for ALL kinds of communication.
@Hazdaz
"Forget France, Belgium and the Netherlands here..."
Gotta love you Americans.
@Hazdaz
It's really funny that now due to AT&T's tiered pricing, Roger's comes out cheaper.
2GB at $25 is a rip off. $30 for 6GB is a bargain compared to that! 2GB should have been no more than $20 considering that when they offered $30 "unlimited", the soft cap was 5GB. After removing 60% of the data allotment, they only knock $5 off??? I don't mind tiers but the pricing needs to reflect what you're getting.
@LeJay
There's about 20 countries on that list, and I am supposed to focus on the top 4??
Of course I am going to focus on the country I live in and beyond just that, the price disparity between the lowest 1/2 is FAAARRR greater than the price disparity between the top 1/2.
That's the whole point... yeah, France is expensive, but it's "only" 2X what we pay here in the US... but the US is 25X more expensive than Singapore. That's bigger news.