Akamai Internet Speed Top & Homing Pidgeons
Not long after we played around testing our connection here in Canada over broadband (cable) vs iPhone (3G), Akamai releases its 2009 Q3 report.
The top 10 countries having the top Internet connection speeds are:
# | Country | Q3 09 Mbps | Q2-3 % D | YOY % D |
1 | South Korea | 14.6 | 29 | 16 |
2 | Japan | 7.9 | 8.2 | 11 |
3 | Hong Kong | 7.6 | 10 | 13 |
4 | Romania | 6.2 | -0.1 | 12 |
5 | Sweden | 5.7 | -5.0 | 6.2 |
6 | Ireland | 5.3 | 26 | 73 |
7 | Netherlands | 5.2 | 2.2 | 18 |
8 | Switzerland | 5.0 | - | 1.0 |
9 | Denmark | 4.8 | 1.6 | 7.7 |
10 | Czech Republic | 4.8 | -3.1 | 23 |
18 | United States | 3.9 | 1.8 | -2.4 |
- | Global | 1.7 | 18 | 13 |
This data correlates roughly with what SpeedTest.net is showing (speeds in Mbps):
Top Countries by Download Speed (st.n)
# | Country | d/l | u/l |
1 | Korea, Republic of | 23.88 | 13 – 3.43 |
2 | Japan | 17.04 | 2 – 8.19 |
3 | Aland Islands | 16.39 | 5 – 6.05 |
4 | Latvia | 16.07 | 3 – 6.37 |
5 | Romania | 14.68 | 7 – 5.46 |
6 | Lithuania | 14.49 | 1 – 9.34 |
7 | Sweden | 14.39 | 9 – 5.30 |
8 | Netherlands | 13.76 | 14 – 3.42 |
9 | Bulgaria | 13.41 | 4 – 6.17 |
10 | Andorra | 12.95 | 8 – 5.31 |
11 | Moldova | 11.86 | 12 – 3.59 |
12 | Hong Kong | 10.37 | 6 – 5.63 |
13 | Portugal | 10.22 | Ru – 11 – 4.8 |
14 | Slovakia | 10 | Sv – 10 – 5.16 |
39 | Canada | 6.24 | 40 – 1.10 |
It should come as no surprise that Africa is lagging in the Continental Top:
A South-African IT corporation, Unlimited IT, sent 4 GB of data in a USB key tied to Winston, a homing pidgeon, who fled 80 km (50 miles) in 1h 8 min. Including downloading [from USB key to computer], the transfer took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds -- the time it took for only four percent of the data to be transferred using a Telkom line.
In some parts of the world, net neutrality seems to be the least of their worries
Sources / More info: akamai-twt, akamai, st.n, bbc-pidgeon, reuters-pidgeon, techxav-pidgeon, yt-net-speed