Is the internet affordable in Georgia? – Georgian National Communications Commission has released the findings of a comparative assessment of the pricing of telecommunications services conducted by Strategy Analytics using internationally recognised and validated methods.

Monitoring for 2023 revealed that the price of high-speed fixed internet is significantly higher than in European countries. The results were compared to those from 24 other nations.

The cost of internet services for legal entities far exceeds that of European nations. According to the surveys, experts believe there is unhealthy rivalry in the area. Georgia charges 136% more for 100Mbps fixed internet and 35% more for 10 GB mobile internet with talk time compared to other European countries.

According to Ekaterine Imadedze, a Communications Commission member, “Georgian users have restricted access to high-quality services.”

The high prices for services are mostly due to high-quality, high-speed Internet. Fixed, low-quality internet markets are different.

In Tbilisi, individual users may get one of the most popular optical internet packages, the 25 MB/s internet package, for 5% less than the average price of equivalent services in European nations and 17% cheaper in the Georgian regions. According to experts, the Communications Commission should take decisive steps to regulate the issue.

As for legal entities, fixed internet services for them are more expensive than in European countries. In particular, the price of 10 MB/s optical internet for legal entities in Georgia is almost 3 times higher than the average of 23 European countries.

It should be noted that standard deals for legal entities in Georgia do not include high-volume optical internet. The private sector believes this is due to particular corporations’ strong market positions.

To improve the outcome of the comparative analysis, the Communications Commission is conducting sophisticated research on the telecoms industry, which is expected to be finished in the second quarter.

The Commission clarifies that only after that will they make the necessary choices to ensure that Georgian consumers, like European users, may enjoy high-volume, high-speed telecom services at a reasonable price.

Despite several attempts, large internet service providers declined to review the monitoring findings in an interview with GPB First Channel.