Where Data Plans Know No Bounds

Almost two third of Finns don't have to worry about reaching a data cap with their phone plan provider. According to data from the Statista Global Consumer Survey, 65 percent of Finnish residents are using an unlimited data plan with their mobile phone, making it not only the country with the highest share of people using uncapped mobile data plans in Europe, but around the world.

Switzerland and the U.S. aren't far behind, as our chart indicates. While more than half of users in the Alpine state have unlimited data, 46 percent of people polled from the United States have no cap on their smartphone data usage. Unsurprisingly, four of the biggest global superpowers make the list. Conspiciously missing: Germany, the European country with the fourth-highest GDP worldwide. Only six percent of Germans have unlimited data, which earns the country the last place out of the 21 places polled between July 2020 and June 2021. This is symptomatic for Germany's lack of affordable and reliable digital infrastructure which became especially obvious during the coronavirus pandemic.

The difference in unlimited data plan usage can also be explained by its price tag. In the U.S., you can get a 5G-enabled unlimited data plan starting at $40 a month, although you might face deprioritization with a smaller carrier. Finnish providers, on the other hand, offer uncapped data in Finland itself, the Nordics and the Baltics for roughly €30 a month for 300 mbit/s download speed, even for prepaid cards. The cheapest plan with comparable speeds in Germany is offered by telco provider O2 and clocks in at €50 a month for a fixed two-year contract.