Almost every city in the world offers cyber cafés or other commercial Internet
access, but they cost average people in a developing city two times as much of their daily income as average residents in a developed city.
In wealthiest cities between 2000 and 2005, cost of an hour of Internet access for average people dropped significantly, from 26 percent of daily income to 7 percent. ((Using over 40 travel guides, published between 2000 and 2007, we compiled multiple reports of the cost of going online for one hour in as many cities as possible.))
The cost of going online fell as average income rose. ((All valued adjusted to 2005 U.S. Dollars; gross domestic product adjusted to purchasing power parity, per capita, from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators)) In many developing cities, however, cost of going online didn’t fall as dramatically, nor did incomes rise as fast. People in those cities spent 40 percent of their daily income to use the Internet in 2000 compared to 14 percent in 2005.
GRAPHIC: Percentage of Daily Income Spent on One Hour of Internet Access
In Lagos and Rio, the relative cost of going online for the average person has actually increased over time.
GRAPHIC: The Persistent Digital Divide Among Rich and Poor Global Cities
In other words, an hour of internet access in a cyber café can cost the resident of a developing city twice as much of their daily income as such access can cost the resident of a developed city.