Households in low-income countries will spend up to 5% of their income on fibre broadband

Fixed broadband household penetration is low in many low-income countries. Supply-side constraints such as limited FTTP deployments help to explain these figures. However, operators and investors must also understand demand-side constraints on penetration growth and affordability thresholds for fixed broadband in emerging markets. In this article, we consider the percentage of household income that consumers in emerging markets are prepared to pay for fixed broadband. We also examine the implications of these affordability thresholds for FTTP roll-outs in emerging markets.