Earlier this month, Yandex released a report which compiled data from various sources on Internet trends across the country. The report’s insights on Internet access in the regions are particularly interesting.
The Internet audience continues to grow across the country, notes Yandex, but the rate of growth is slowing: from autumn 2011 through autumn 2012, it grew by 12%, compared with 17% the previous year. Two regions, however – the Central and Urals federal districts – experienced an increase in the pace of growth.
In Autumn 2012, the average Internet penetration in the adult population reached or exceeded 70% in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it was only 52% in small cities and 37% in Russia’s villages.
Over the past year, the speed of landline broadband access grew significantly, and its price per Mbps fell noticeably – down to 26 rubles per Mbps, or 25% of its previous price, notes Yandex. However, it is likely that the majority of users did not start paying less for internet access – those who bothered changing their tariff plans simply got higher speed access for the same amount of money.
The least expensive Internet access (per Mbps) was in St. Petersburg, while the most expensive was in the Far East. Taking into account salary levels, Moscow is the leader and the Far East took last place in the affordability index.
Figures are different for mobile Internet access. The lowest price is in the Southern Federal District, while St. Petersburg tops the affordability index.
While the Internet audience grew by just 12%, the mobile internet audience grew by 35% in the past year, with growth rates reaching 60% and 53%, respectively, in the Volga and Northwestern federal regions.
As of February 2013, Android and iOS operating systems accounted for 60% of devices used for mobile internet access, up from 42% a year earlier, while the number of Java and Symbian phones shrank dramatically.
To download the full version of the report in Russian, please click here. For the English version, click here.
