New research by Cisco Systems and the Säid Business School shows who the world leaders are when it comes to broadband speeds.
The leaders, unsurprisingly are South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Sweden with the UK lagging 25th out of the 66 countries listed. The USA comes 24th. This will come as no surprise to anyone living in the UK where our poor broadband speeds have been an issue of contention for some years.
In the research, released this morning they said…
The results of the second annual global study on the quality of broadband connections released today reveal that 62 out of the 66 countries analyzed had improved the quality of consumer broadband services since last year. However, new data from the study highlights the extent of the digital quality divide between urban and rural areas and, for the first time, compares the quality of fixed and mobile broadband services
The research found that the ‘average’ broadband speed around the world sat at 4.75Mbps, up 49% on last year and way ahead of the UK average of 2Mbps.
Professor Maria Rosalína Vincente of the University of Oviedo has said about the study…
“The Broadband Quality Study shows us which countries have made real moves towards the Internet of the future. It also provides fresh evidence of the urban versus rural quality divide. The challenge for countries now is to bridge this quality divide.
This quality divide could indicate how future divides in wealth may take shape, as broadband is increasingly determining the ability of individuals, firms and nations to create future prosperity.”
The most interesting figures emerge when you examine the findings in full which shows both the USA and UK borderline on meeting the bare minimum “needs of today’s applications” and you can see from the chart (click to view it full size) how far behind Japan just about every other country is.
Kenya, the country at the very bottom of the pile has recently had a new fibre cable go live, as reported by the BBC last week, so we should see improvements there in the next twelve months.
You can read the full findings of the study here.
