In July, we covered a study released by Pando Networks, a digital download delivery company, that outlined some striking disparities in the current quality of internet access and speed across the U.S. Among the study’s more revealing findings was the size of the gap between those at the front of the pack in terms of connectivity speeds and those at the back — a difference of tenfold. Interestingly, Rhode Island came in as the state with the fastest download speeds, compared to Idaho which brought up the rear with an average speed of 318KBps.
Today, Pando Networks has released another study that reveals the speed and reliability not just of the U.S. but of the global landscape in an attempt to provide a comprehensive look at the accessibility of the world’s data. Interestingly, the average global download speed is 580KBps, showing among other things that Idaho’s speed pales in comparison to worldwide average. But what may come as a surprise to some is that the U.S. ranked in at 26th with an average speed of 616KBps, compared to South Korea, the world speed champion, which came in with a blinding average speed of 2,202KBps.
Coming in behind South Korea are the surprise runners-up: The small eastern European nations of Romania at 1,909KBps and Bulgaria at 1,611KBps. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Especially considering that North America is so far down the list in comparison to eastern European nations, which dominated the rankings with Lithuania coming in fourth at 1,462KBps, Latvia in fifth at 1,377KBps, and Ukraine in eight at 1,190KBps. Compare this to the U.S. in 26th place, Canada in 31st, and Mexico in 86th.
In terms of the completion rate for measured downloads, Pando’s study found that they were closely correlated with average speeds, with South Korea again taking the cake with a 94 percent completion rate. closely correlates with average speed, South Korea again taking top prize with a 94% completion rate and most of the other speedy countries not far behind.
Developing nations in Africa and Asia unsurprisingly brought up the back of the pack, with the Congo showing the slowest average speed at 13KBps, the Central African Republic at 14KBps, and Comoros at 23KBps. (Other countries of note include China at 245KBps and Australia at 348KBps.)
Also of not is the study’s breakdown of global data to the city level, which yet again found that the fastest six cities are located in South Korea. Andover, Massachusetts and Bucharest, Romania were the only two cities outside of the gaming powerhouse South Korea to slide into the top 10.
Obviously, on a global level, just as it is with the U.S., the disparities between the fastest and slowest countries is jaw-dropping. Not to mention that one might expect developed countries like the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, China, and Canada to round out the top 5, while none of them even managed to break the top 20. Instead, as CEO of Pando Networks Robert Levitan said, the fastest speeds were found in markets like Eastern Europe, where “focus on infrastructure development and favorable geography promote an incredible level of connectivity”.
For more, check out Pando’s nifty infographic below or visit Pando at home here.
Excerpt image courtesy of CSMonitor.com