Since the end of 2009, the US has improved its broadband speed rankings from 22nd to 16th worldwide. From Q4 2009 to Q2 2010, the average broadband speed in the US grew from 3.8Mbps to 4.6Mbps, according to an Akamai broadband survey. Delaware enjoys the fastest connections in the US, and California dominates the top US cities for fast broadband. If you want fast Internet connections, don’t go to Mayotte, Wallis and Futuna, or Cuba.
US Broadband Speed Jumps to 16th Place Worldwide
Since our last worldwide broadband survey the US has improved its broadband speed from 22nd place to 16th place overall. The average broadband speed in the US grew from 3.8Mbps to 4.6Mbps from Q4 2009 to Q2 2010. South Korea continues to dominate in broadband speed, jumping from 11.7Mbps to 17Mbps on average over the same time period. The average broadband speed in South Korea grew by 47% in year over year growth. Hong Kong and Japan remain virtually unchanged from our last survey, while Romania actually dropped slightly from 7.2Mbps to 6.8Mbps. The Netherlands jumped two spots from 7th place to 5th, growing from 5.3Mbps to 6.5Mbps.
Figure 1: Average Connection Speed by Country, Q2 2010
Source: Akamai
Fastest US States
Delaware continues to lead all US states in average broadband speed, with an average broadband speed of 7.2Mbps (see Figure 2). Virtually all broadband connections in Delaware (98%) are over 2Mbps. If Delaware were a country, it would be in 4th place worldwide in average broadband speed. Rhode Island (6.2Mbps), New Hampsire (5.9Mbps), District of Columbia (5.0Mbps), and Massachusetts (5.5Mbps) round out the top five fastest states. Overall, the US averages 4.6Mbps in broadband speed.
Figure 2: Fastest Average Broadband Speed US States, Q2 2010
Source: Akamai
Fastest US Cities
Unlike our previous worldwide broadband survey this month’s survey filtered out college towns and cities with less than 50,000 unique IP addresses. Once again California dominated the top 10 spots with 7 California cities having the fastest average broadband speeds. Monterey Park, CA tops the list with a 6.9Mbps average connection speed, followed by Riverside, CA at 6.8Mbps, Union, NJ at 6.4Mbps, Oakland, CA at 6.4Mbps, and Fairfield, CA at 6.3Mbps.
Figure 3: Fastest Average Broadband Speed US Cities, Q2 2010
Source: Akamai
Slowest Countries with the most 256Kbps Connections
With the growth of broadband and broadband speeds around the world, narrowband connections continue to decline.
Among the top 10 narrowband countries, only Cuba showed a slight increase in narrowband connections (at 95% narrowband). Mayotte topped the list with 98% of connections at or below 256Kbps. Wallis and Futuna came in second at 96% narrowband connections, followed by Cuba at 95%, Madagascar at 90%, and Vanuatu at 89% narrowband connections.
Figure 4: Slowest Countries Percentage of 256Kbps or Less, Q2 2010
Source: Akamai
Slowest US States with the most 256Kbps Connections
Nine out of the ten slowest US states saw a decline in narrowband connections, only North Dakota showed a slight increase over the last quarter (see Figure 5). Alaska led all states in narrowband lines with 7.7% of users on dialup, followed by the District of Columbia at 6.5%, Missouri at 5.7%, Iowa at 5.5%, and Georgia at 4.5% narrowband adoption. Note that the District of Columnbia made both the slowest and fastest top 10 lists.
Figure 5: Slowest US States Percentage of 256Kbps or Less, Q2 2010
Source: Akamai
Mobile Connection Speeds
In light of the increased use of hand-held mobile devices, Akamai is now tracking mobile broadband usage. “During the second quarter of 2010, average measured connection speeds on
mobile network providers around the world ranged from 6.1 Mbps, down to 115 Kbps – both were observed
on mobile providers in Slovakia. Average peak connection speeds on mobile providers around the world ranged
from over 20 Mbps down to just over 700 Kbps.”
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Further Reading
- Akamai
- The data for this month’s Bandwidth Report was provided by Akamai, from their “The State of the Internet,” Volume 3, Number 2 Q2 2010 report.
- US Drops to 22nd in Broadband Speed Worldwide
- The last broadband speed survey results from Akamai. The average connection speed in the United States fell from 18th to 22nd place worldwide in the last quarter of 2009. The fastest broadband cities in the US are college towns. April 2010.