In the fourth quarter of 2012, Akamai reported the global average connection speed at 2.9 Mbps, a twenty-three percent year-over-year gain. Global average peak connection speeds rose by thirty-five percent, to 16.6 Mbps.
David Belson, author of the SOTI report, told Enterprise Networking Planet that several factors drive the global growth of Internet speeds.
“One is the continued deployment of high-speed Internet connectivity around the world, as countries execute on their national broadband plans,” Belson said. “Another is competitive pressure – in those areas with multiple providers, there can be a limited arms race of speed increases, where providers may raise the speeds associated with their subscriber packages as a means of retention and to remain competitive.”
The fourth-quarter SOTI speed gains follow the third quarter report, which showed some sequential quarter-to-quarter declines. Belson said that quarterly fluctuations aren’t unexpected.
“It appears that in Q3, there were a few larger countries that saw declines, while in Q4, they saw increases,” Belson said. “In addition, several larger countries saw much more significant increases in Q4 than in Q3, which likely helped to pull the quarterly change back to the positive side.”
Read the full story at EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet:
Internet Speeds Ahead in Fourth Quarter of 2012
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.