The availability of smartphones and LTE networks in South East Asia is growing. But affordability of any given device is only one part of the equation. The cost of data to fuel mobile services and entertainment also impacts adoptions rates.
This infographic based on research from Tech In Asia takes a deeper look at the varying cost of mobile data in the region and maps that cost against the minimum wage in each country, calculating the estimated hours a worker has to put in to afford 1GB of data.
For example, in Indonesia, the average cost for 1GB of data is $2.84. With workers earning an average $.54 per hour, it takes 5:16 hours to earn enough to consume 1 GB of mobile services. To put that in context, one feature film uses up between one and two GB of mobile data.
