Survey ranks Dubai most expensive city for VPN link

Many international businesses use VPNs as a lower-cost alternative to traditional private lines, allowing them to securely connect offices in different locations to a firm's network.

Telegeography surveyed carrier prices in 102 cities, and it found that the fees vary significantly. In London.

The average cost of a 2Mbps E-1 port was US$532 per month, while in Hong Kong, the average port charge for.

An E-1 was $753. In contrast, the median cost in Dubai of an E-1 connection was an "astonishing" US$14,683.

"The high cost of VPN service in Dubai is a reflection of the other key driver of costs: local competition," said Telegeography analyst Gregory Bryan "The local telecom market in the UAE is uncompetitive, and, despite adequate submarine cable supply, enterprise providers must pay high local access charges to connect customers in Dubai to their network."

The research team found that prices tend to be higher outside North America and western Europe, and that the main factors determining international IP-VPN prices are the underlying cost of international network capacity and the competitiveness of the local communications market.

"We are conditioned to think of global IP networks as ubiquitous and uniform, yet local access regulations and regional transport costs remain critical factors that drive the cost of connecting businesses in a city," added Bryan.