![](https://sbm.sb/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Screenshot-2025-01-08-at-10.37.50-AM.png")
Seven years ago, internet users in the country were paying $1.55 per mega-bytes however now it only costs $0.05 per MB, the 2020 Annual Report of Telecommunication Solomon Islands has revealed.
In its latest report launched last week, TCSI highlights that the cost of broadband data as measured by $ per MB (megabytes) has been decreasing since 2014 from $1.55/MG to $0.05/ MB last year— with the first large decrease occurred in 2016 with a decline of -64% from 2014. The Report adds that this is despite the undersea cable network being introduced only in early end of 2019. Furthermore, it details that this is the result of competition between internet service providers and with the introduction of the undersea cable network in early 2019, by February 2020, the data cost further declined by (-69%) from February 2019.
Meanwhile. the average monthly GSM data usage in 2020 was 309,398,423 MB compared to 145,696,550 MB data usage in 2019. The increase of 110% usage is driven by the undersea cable which necessitated for more data capacity to become available to users at lower cost.
On downloads, the Report records that internet downloads have been increasing by 434% annually since 2014.
The Report reveals that internet downloads have been dominated by ADSL broadband technology from 2014-2016, due to the fact that ADSL fixed lines internet was only provided for by Our Telekom. However, this was overtaken by Mobile technology since 2018. The internet market began to change when Bmobile entered the in 2010. By the end of 2020, 81% of all downloads was from the Mobile technology. This also reflects the changing behaviour and taste of customers towards the use of mobile technology as a result rapidly declining cost of data due to competition and the launch of the undersea cable in early 2020.
News@SBMOnline2021
