The 24 countries of the Caribbean represent a unique digital microcosm, and their broadband data provides valuable insights into affordability and the challenges of infrastructure investment
For more than two decades, Strand Consult has studied policy designed to stimulate the broadband investment necessary to support a meaningful digital society. The Caribbean region represents a unique microcosm whose data offers valuable insights that can be compared across global markets and used to inform broader policy discussions.
Strand Consult’s new report, Caribbean Broadband Prices: Global Comparisons, Policy Implications & Affordability, finds that consumer broadband in the Caribbean is broadly affordable, while investment in broadband networks remains challenging. Based on current pricing data from 275 prepaid plans across 24 Caribbean markets, Strand Consult’s analysis shows that mobile broadband prices in the region meet, if not exceed, global benchmarks. The research demonstrates that earlier assessments often overstated prices by relying on outdated data, mixing prepaid and postpaid baskets, and comparing bundles that were not consistent across countries.
The core empirical finding is that the population-weighted average price of mobile data in the Caribbean is USD 0.85 per GB, based on 30-day prepaid bundles. That number is important because it suggests that mobile data in the region is not unusually expensive when compared on a like-for-like basis. The report also shows that affordability is strong by international benchmarks: in nearly every Caribbean market with available data, 5 GB of mobile data costs less than 2% of monthly GNI per capita, which meets the UN Broadband Commission’s target.
Rather than selective use of country, operator, or plan type, Strand Consult examines a broad selection of matched offerings across Caribbean nations, operators and categories, which makes the results more representative. Strand Consult focuses on data bundles as discrete voice and SMS packages are in long-term decline. The report further normalizes bundle comparability by focusing on 30-day plans and estimating the share of value attributable to data where bundles contain mixed services such as voice, messaging, and app-specific allowances.
Strand Consult contrasts its findings with earlier studies that used older price data and less representative baskets, which tended to imply that Caribbean broadband was less affordable. That comparison matters because policy conclusions depend heavily on methodology. If the underlying data are incomplete or cherry-picked, policymakers may conclude that consumers face a pricing problem when the real issue may be something else entirely. Strand Consult’s analysis suggests the Caribbean is not facing a consumer-price crisis in mobile broadband. Instead, the more serious issue is lack of policy to incentivize network investment.
Strand Consult documents that operators face high infrastructure costs regardless of country income. Equipment, spectrum, international capacity, energy, and maintenance all remain expensive, while many Caribbean markets are small, fragmented, and low-income. That means there is a structural mismatch between what consumers can pay and what operators need to earn to finance upgrades to 4G, 5G, and broader coverage. In the report’s view, low consumer prices should not be mistaken for a healthy investment environment.
The report’s broader recommendation is that the burden of financing broadband should not fall primarily on end users and operators alone. It demonstrates that major digital platforms and content providers profit substantially from broadband networks but do not support the underlying networks financially on which they depend. Indeed the Caribbean is a microcosm of a broader global problem: the largest traffic generators capture value from local networks, while local telecom firms bear the capital burden of expansion. The report therefore supports market-based cost-recovery models, traffic fees, and policy approaches that widen the base of broadband payors.
Strand Consult documented in the report “Gigabit Caribbean: Closing the Investment Gap in Fixed and Mobile Networks” an investment gap of USD $9 billion – $14 billion. Moreover, a Caribbean mobile subscriber may pay $10 per month, but that same user generates $30 or more per month to a handful of large technology providers which pay zero to support the underlying infrastructure which is essential to deliver their data, a from of unjust enrichment akin to property theft. This constitutes a form of digital colonization in which foreign technology firms extract value from the region without paying tax or regulatory fees or otherwise contributing financially. Tech companies counter that the presence of their services amount to net benefit to the Caribbean because they are both “free” to user and that associated advertising could support the purchase of local goods and services.
The fact remains that increasingly the data delivered over a broadband subscription is advertising and associated AI and other technologies. This consumes a growing portion of the data (as much as a quarter in some cases), meaning that the consumer’s ostensible access to desired content is reduced for the platform’s preference to supply advertising, AI acceleration, and analytics. Caribbean broadband providers exert little to no control over the data flowing on their networks.
For policymakers, the practical implication is not to raise consumer prices, but to think more carefully about infrastructure finance. The report recommends lowering taxes and regulatory fees where they create unnecessary barriers, simplifying permitting, encouraging infrastructure sharing where appropriate, and considering new contribution models from large traffic generators. It also treats satellite and other complementary technologies as useful additions in remote areas but not substitutes for sustainable terrestrial networks. That distinction matters, because the region’s digital ambition will depend on continued investment in fixed and mobile infrastructure, not just on retail affordability.
The 24 countries of the Caribbean represent a unique microcosm, and the data makes clear that the current business model is no longer sustainable. Balancing broadband affordability for users with the investment requirements needed to build next-generation networks cannot be achieved under the existing regulatory framework.
Taxation or subsidies are suboptimal and unworkable solutions. Instead, infrastructure policy should better reflect the network usage generated by the largest digital and hyperscale entities —the way major technology companies in the United States have acknowledged responsibility to help protect consumers from rising energy infrastructure costs associated with their data center usage. See Strand Consult’s research note: “Big Tech’s Electricity Bill Is a Problem: Why the ‘Pay Your Way’ Principle Should Apply to Broadband and Data Centers.”
Caribbean mobile broadband prices are affordable by world standards, but the region’s next challenge is financing the next generation of connectivity. The report’s central message is that affordability has largely been achieved on the retail side; the harder problem now is making broadband investment sustainable.
Strand Consult has studied and published independent analysis of the global mobile and broadband industry since 1996.
This report provides an updated and data-driven perspective on broadband pricing, affordability, and infrastructure challenges across the Caribbean. It is intended for policymakers, regulators, journalists, and industry stakeholders seeking reliable international comparisons to inform decisions on policy and investment.
