The cost of DSL broadband service, the main competition to cable operators, continues to fall. The average worldwide cost for entry-level DSL service from telephone companies fell by 9.3 percent in the second quarter, the steepest fall in four years.
This finding from Point Topic Research called the rapid decline “remarkable.” The researchers tracked 18 DSL service providers throughout the world.
The figures represent an increasingly competitive broadband market. Some DSL operators have cut prices by half and others have offered major upgrades in entry-level speed.
Although the research found that the price of cable broadband services is also falling, DSL remains the lower cost option. Point Topic found cable broadband service to be on average $4.27 per month more expensive than DSL.
The research that noticed the trend extends to new broadband technologies as well. Fiber-to-home service in Japan, the researchers found, is lower than the worldwide average for cable broadband. Some operators now offer 100Mb/s fiber service for about $26 a month.
