The U.S. is Catching up in Internet Connection Speeds

News
By Wolfgang Gruener
published

There is no reason to believe that key Asian regions will be surrendering their leading position in Broadband connections anytime soon.

South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are still leading the world, while the U.S. is getting closer to the top 10.

According to Akamai's State of the Internet report for Q2, South Korea topped the list of average Internet connection speeds with 15.7 Mbps, followed by Japan with 10.9 Mbps and Hong Kong with 9.3 Mbps. The U.S. landed at #12 with 6.7 Mbps, which, however, is more than twice the global average of 2.6 Mbps, and grew by 17 percent from Q1 and by 25 percent year over year. In both cases, the U.S. speed increase was faster than the global average, which jumped by 14 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The U.S. is listed at eighth for average peak connection speeds. Akamai said that the average user in the U.S. now has a maximum of 28.7 Mbps available - 39 percent more than a year ago. Leading the charge is Hong Kong with 49.3 Mbps. South Korea is second with 47.8 Mbps and Japan came in third with 39.5 Mbps.

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Wolfgang Gruener
62 Comments Comment from the forums
  • The-Darkening
    And to think that here in Argentina we're getting charged 20 U$S for 1 Mb. There are faster speeds, they become increasingly unaffordable. Max I've seen is 20 Mbs for 110 U$S monthly.
    Reply
  • nebicanezer
    Kansas City may be skewing those numbers a tad
    Reply
  • wethrowpie
    Darkening: You mean Megabit Mb, not MB Megabyte.
    Reply
  • g00fysmiley
    The-DarkeningAnd to think that here in Argentina we're getting charged 20 U$S for 1 MB. There are faster speeds, they become increasingly unaffordable. Max I've seen is 20 MBs for 110 U$S monthly.
    we might just pay more, i have a peak around 25Mb and after taxes and all internet aloen runs $80 that is peak though through comcast where they let you use your full connection for like 2 min to fool internet speed checks then drop me down to 3-4 Mb/s because they don't want to improve thier networks, they only want peopel to think they have
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    One of my friends is consistently getting 200 Kb/s on his broadband connection. It dips below 54 Kb/s during the evening or a storm.

    nebicanezerKansas City may be skewing those numbers a tadNo surprise
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    Oh, and he's paying $30 for the connection.
    Reply
  • The-Darkening
    wethrowpieDarkening: You mean Megabit Mb, not MB Megabyte.
    Fixed, thanks! I will add that some companys doesn't even give you a full Mb. They give you 100 KB/s instead of 128 KB/s. People doesn't really know any better.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    this is not so much because faster broadband is becoming available/affordable (though it is a little), but because phone companies are working extremely hard to get rid of their old copper networks which boots people from dial-up and DSL, and forces them to move to cable or fiber (or ridiculously priced cell phone plans).
    Cincinnati Bell is hoping to be off copper in all high-density areas within the next 3-5 years. That is a lot of people every month being moved up (whether they can afford it or not) simply because the cheaper/slower internet is no longer available, and there are a ton of other phone companies following the same type of time-line.

    I am all for progress, but I work with low income families directly affected by this, and for them it is a rather raw deal.
    Reply
  • jojesa
    Wow! I should not complaint about 20Mb @ $29 for the first two years then $40 after that with Optimum.
    I'm not that concerned about USA having the fastest speed in the planet but having reliable services everywhere. At least 5Mb available and accessible to each and every corner. That will be an accomplishment.
    Reply
  • lanbaner
    g00fysmileywe might just pay more, i have a peak around 25Mb and after taxes and all internet aloen runs $80 that is peak though through comcast where they let you use your full connection for like 2 min to fool internet speed checks then drop me down to 3-4 Mb/s because they don't want to improve thier networks, they only want peopel to think they have
    When I went to college in the US I had comcast and even though their customer service was really bad I was getting constantly 15Mb/s which was their standard package although it wouldnt be hard to believe comcast doing such a thing as slowing your conection down. Now back in Argentina I am paying for 3Mb/s $36usd but I never receive more than 2.5Mb/s not to mention the constant disconnections.
    Reply