Who Has Fastest, Cheapest Internet in the World?

Despite how often we hear that the U.S. lags behind other countries in terms of internet speed (which is still true), the fastest internet in the world, according to a report from Akamai Technologies, is in Berkeley, California at an average speed of 18.7Mbps.

In fact, the second and third fastest internet offerings in the world are also in the U.S., in Chapel Hill, NC (average speed: 17.5Mbps) and Stanford, Calif. (average speed: 17.0Mbps) Of course, the obvious linkage there is that the internet is tied closely to those using the access granted by educational institutions with fast internet connections, clearly skewing the average upward.

When not including any of the U.S. cities with a major college in town, the list of fastest internet connected places moves over to Asia.

On a similar note, how would you like to get 1Gbps fiber for just $26? If you live in Hong Kong, that's a reality. Thanks to an offer from City Telecom, those living in Hong Kong can get 1Gbps fiber internet access for just HK$199, which is around US$26. Getting phone service with that is just another US$3, and TV will cost another US$6-12.

Of course, things are different in North America. Some select few in the U.S. will be graced by Google fiber, the search giant's 1Gbps experiment.

As for those in Canada, western ISP Shaw Communications has announced that it is testing 1Gbps fiber services in Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta and Vancouver, BC.