Are we getting ripped off? Arab telecom regulators say: Kinda

If you think you're paying too much for phone calls and internet access, it may be worth checking out a report released yesterday. It gives a perspective and context on the cost of telecom services across the Arab world, when compared to average OECD prices. The bottom line is basically what you would expect - people in the Middle East are paying a lot for internet access and way too much for international calls, while the relative cost of mobile services is decreasing. Some thoughts on all of this, after the jump:This is all in line with the competitive environment - most countriesin the region have increasingly competitive mobile markets, not manyhave truly competitive internet markets, and almost none havecompetition in the international gateway - a big factor ininternational calling and internet access. Anyhow, I'll look into all this more today, so watch this space. It is good to see these kind of independent benchmarking reportsgetting released by the region's regulators - this one was commissioned by AREGNET, the association of Arab telecom regulators. My only quibble iswith their method for gauging the cost of services - they translateprices into US dollars, and then divide the result by purchasing power(PPP) in each country. While that may be somewhat fair, accomodating for different costs anddisposable incomes to make a general measure of affordability, it skewsthe results in favour of small, ultra wealthy Gulf states like Qatarand the UAE. Both have crazily high average incomes - skewed massivelyby the top end of the economic pyramid - which means even thoughinternet access in the UAE can cost almost $200 per month, the reportsays it is more affordable here than in Egypt, where it costs less than$50. It's basically a philosophical question of whether the cost of a mobilecall or internet account should scale according to local incomes. Itshould, but probably more at the bottom than the top - if people areearning $2 a day, then it makes sense that they should expect mobilecalls at one cent per minute. But Bill Gates shouldn't be paying $5000per minute, no matter how awful Windows Mobile is.