The Czech Republic was last on the list of EU countries for mobile internet usage. The reason was high prices and limited limits.

Average price for 1 GB in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, an average of $6.50 (150 Kč) is paid for 1 GB of incoming LTE traffic. This figure is the highest in Europe. Spain and the Netherlands follow – over $5. On the contrary, in Finland, Switzerland and Austria, a gigabyte costs about 10 cents. This is according to the analysis of purchasing power conducted by Point Topic in European markets in the third quarter of last year.

According to Rewheel data from October last year, 10 European countries have unlimited tariffs for less than 30 EUR / month. At the same time, in the Czech Republic, a client receives only 3 GB for this money.

What do mobile operator representatives say?

The Czech Republic ranks third in mobile data usage in the European Union. Only Greece and Belgium use mobile internet less.

"About 80% of our customers don't even use the monthly traffic"

commented O2 company secretary Lucie Pehachkova

“In absolute terms, it may seem that our rates are higher, but when we look at the average costs of customers, it turns out that people spend less than in Europe overall,” says Peter Dvořák, CEO of Vodafone CZ. Despite statistics saying otherwise, according to him, the cost of mobile traffic in the Czech Republic is falling almost the fastest on the continent: the price per gigabyte decreased by 45% over the year.

Reasons for such high internet prices

“The cheaper the internet is, the more it will be used, and there will be no need to look for free wi-fi in a cafe. And of course, we are talking not only about the price, but also about the fact that there is enough traffic in the package. "
Says ISP Alliance press secretary Rostislav Kotsman.

Minister of Industry Marta Novaková believes that high prices are related to low traffic consumption by Czech citizens. Prime Minister
Andrej Babiš said that the government is doing everything it can to reduce mobile internet prices. The operators themselves complain about the need for large investments in network development.

The situation may significantly change with the entry of a fourth major mobile operator into the market.