The Georgian National Communications Commission (COMCOM) has published 2023 Telecoms Retail Pricing Market Study. According to the document, only 1% of Georgian users subscribed to a fixed broadband services (bundles and standalone, 2% for only standalone) have internet at 100 Mb/s or above.
The report considers the cost of mobile and fixed broadband telecommunications services, plus bundled communications services in Georgia, compared to selected European countries, for both residential (consumer) and small business users. The countries considered are: Georgia, selected EU (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,) and the UK.
"Most users in Georgia will subscribe to lower speed services, as high speeds are very expensive. At the end of 2022, only 1% of Georgian users subscribed to a fixed broadband services (bundles and standalone, 2% for only standalone) at 100 Mb/s or above, compared to 55% in Europe (on average), ranging from 20% for Greece to 87% for Spain (European data source: DESI 2023 Indicators, EC Europa). The very low numbers taking higher speed services in Georgia is driven by the very high prices for high speed, which see Georgia as the most expensive for the highest speed basket for which results are available. Until prices fall at the higher speeds, the take up of these services is unlikely to increase in Georgia.
There is a degree of variation between pricing in Tbilisi and other regions; Pricing in the regions is generally more favourable than Tbilisi pricing. Where this is true, pricing the regions can be up to 13% cheaper than pricing for Tbilisi.
Results for all baskets are shown above; those highlighted in bold are presented in the report. Green highlight indicates that Georgia is at least 15% below the European average; yellow indicates that Georgia is on par with (within + or - 15%), and red at least 15% more expensive than the European average.
The results consider the medium usage set of OECD baskets for selected speeds. As most services offer unlimited broadband, the results for the low and high usage baskets for fixed broadband will be identical or near-identical", - the document reads.
