Average Global Internet Download Speeds Reach 3.3Mb as UK Hit 8.4Mb

Global content delivery network Akamai has published its latest State of the Internet Q2 – 2013 report, which found that the worlds average Internet download speed reached 3.3Mbps (up 5.5% from 3.1Mbps in Q1). Happily the UK has topped 8.4Mbps (up 11% from 7.9Mbps) and is now ranked as the 10th fastest globally (up from 12th).

Admittedly Akamai’s statistics typically reflect the regional performance of its Content Delivery Network (CDN) and their connections with related ISP servers around the world. As a result the data shouldn’t be taken as a reliable reflection of real-world end-user connection speeds, although it’s clear that the UK has continued to improve and at a faster pace than some of our closest rivals.

The report found that 75% of broadband users in the United Kingdom experienced broadband download speeds of above 4Mbps (up from 73% in Q1-2013) and 23% were able to receive speeds of 10Mbps+ (up from 20%). The country’s top peak speed also reached 37.1Mbps (up from 36.3Mbps). We might not quite be up to South Korean standards but the situation is getting better.

In theory, and if the current pace of improvement is maintained, then we might just be able to leapfrog Sweden and the USA within the next quarter or two, which would be particularly impressive given that much of Sweden can access a true fibre optic (FTTH) network.

On the other hand it should also be stressed that the impact of aspects like Traffic Management, network congestion and package choice (i.e. some customers will pick a slower speed package to save money) can all effect the results. But with that in mind it’s also worth seeing how the United Kingdom compares against the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Finally the average Mobile Broadband download speed in the United Kingdom has remained completely static at 3.06Mbps, although the average mobile peak speeds topped 19.53Mbps (up from 19.33Mbps).

Akamai’s State of the Internet Q2 2013 Report
http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/