U.S. Now 9th Best in the World for Average Broadband Internet Speed

The second quarter 2012 Akamai State of the Internet report found that global average connection speeds grew 13 percent in the second quarter, to 3.0 Mbps. The Global average peak connection speed is growing even faster coming in at 16. Mbps for a 19 percent year over year gain.

The U.S is still not the leader in speed, but it is still growing. South Korea, a country that has dominated Akamai’s speed ratings, once again had the highest average connection speed. During the second quarter, the average speed in South Korea was 14.2 Mbps

In contrast, the average connection speed in the United States is less than half, coming in at 6.6 Mbps. The U.S second quarter average connection speed however is a 16 percent year over year gain, and good enough to rank the U.S. the 9th best in the world.

In terms of the highest average peak connection speed, Hong Kong tops the list at 49.2 Mbps. In contrast, the highest average peak in the U.S. is 27.1 Mbps, which is a 24 percent year of year again. The U.S. now ranks 13th in the work for highest average peak connection speed.

The best showing for the U.S. comes in Akamai’s rankings for High Broadband adoption. Akamai defines high-broadband as being connection speeds of 10 Mbps or higher. In the second quarter of 2012, 16 percent of all U.S. connections were in the high broadband category which is a 76 percent year over year gain. The U.S. currently ranks 7th in the category.

Read the full story at EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet:
IPv6 Traffic and U.S Broadband On the Rise

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.