Global Internet Access Speeds Up 25% in a Year, Peak Speeds Up 35%

Year-over-year, average global Internet access speeds grew by 25 percent, with nine of the top 10 countries also demonstrating growth. In fact, only the Netherlands (3.3 percent), Hong Kong (5.4 percent) and Japan (19 percent) reported growth below 20 percent between 2011 and 2012.

Year-over-year, global average peak connection speeds grew 35 percent, Akamai reports. 

Quarter-over-quarter, the global average connection speed rose five percent to 2.9 Mbps. A total of 98 countries/regions that qualified for inclusion saw average connection speeds increase from the third quarter of 2012, ranging from 0.1 percent growth in the Netherlands and Luxembourg to 23 percent growth in Côte d'Ivoire.

Global average peak connection speeds enjoyed a quarter-over-quarter increase of 4.6 percent to 16.6 Mbps. Hong Kong again claimed the highest peak connection speed at 57.5 Mbps, a rise of 6.2 percent from last quarter. 

Global broadband (>4 Mbps) and high-speed broadband (>10 Mbps) adoption improved by 2.7 and 2.1 percent respectively for the quarter. Global broadband adoption rates rose slightly to 42 percent, while high-speed broadband was 11 percent.