Akamai published its quarterly State of the Internet report on Tuesday covering global Internet speeds and Internet security from the last quarter of 2012. South Korea remained the leader in terms of Internet speeds, averaging a connection of 14 Mbps, USENET newsgroup postings reported. Speeds have fallen in the Asian country, however, by 4.8% since the third quarter of 2012 and by a whopping 13% since 2011. The United States ranked eighth in the world with an average connection speed of 7.4 Mbps, an increase of 28% year-over-year and of 2.3% since the third quarter of 2012.
Overall, the 10 countries with the fastest connections saw relatively minor speed increases over the last quarter, ranging from just 0.1 percent in the Netherlands to 7.4 percent in Sweden. Globally, though, the average connection speed grew by 25 percent year-over-year. The only country to see a major dip in speeds since the last quarter was Guatemala (39 percent).
While U.S. broadband speed gains were positive, America still trails other nations for both peak and average connection speeds. The U.S placed 13th. Hong Kong ranks at number one, with an average peak connection speed of 57.5 Mbps. The U.S ranks a bit better when it comes to average measured connection speed, coming in 8th. South Korea holds the top spot globally, with an average speed of 14.0 Mbps.
Looking inside the U.S, the state of Vermont had the highest average measured connection speed, 10.8 Mbps, during the fourth quarter. When it comes to average peak connection speed, Vermont falls to second, at 40.4 Mbps, behind the District of Columbia’s 43.1 Mbps.
The state of California, home to Silicon Valley and its myriad tech giants, ranks 16th in the nation, with an average connection speed of 8.1 Mbps. California ranks 13th for average peak connection speed, at 34.8 Mbps.
With faster Internet speeds, the trend of faster – and more prominent usage – of USENET has been a growing trend here at ThunderNews. As a provider of unlimited, uncensored and unthrottled USENET, we look forward to the trend continuing!
