Spanish mobile operators charge on average the most for tablet data services, followed by the Dutch and Belgian operators, according to the latest research brief by Telecompaper. The brief shows that the popularity of Apple's iPad and other tablets has led to a big increase in dedicated mobile data plans for the devices, with the number growing to 128 at year-end, from 36 in the second quarter of 2010. The survey of 16 Western European countries during the fourth quarter of 2010 showed the most common data allowance offered was 1GB. The average monthly price in Spain stood at EUR 25.61, followed by EUR 20.69 in the Netherlands. This is a large difference with the cheapest prices, of EUR 6.69 in France and EUR 9.71 in Italy. However, the price in France is based on one package only and therefore will not be a true representation of the current situation, as more plans have been introduced since the survey in December. Another big difference was found in the average number of GB included per country. Other than in France, very few GB were included in Germany (only 0.8GB) and the Netherlands (1.1GB). In Sweden and Austria however customers received respectively 9.2GB and 8.3GB included with their iPad/tablet package. This again is reflected in the average price per GB, which was the highest in France and the Netherlands. The best deals based on per-GB prices were found in Austria and Sweden.
