The global average connection speed increased 21% from the first to second quarter of the year, according to Akamai.
The company’s latest State of the Internet Report shows that At 4.6 Mbps, the global average connection speed exceeded the 4 Mbps “broadband” threshold for the first time.
Eight of the top 10 countries/regions saw double-digit percentage increases from the first to the second quarter of 2014, though South Korea kept its first place average connection speed (24.6 Mbps) with only a 4% quarterly increase.
Impressive 18% quarterly growth for Hong Kong (15.7 Mbps) pushed it ahead of Japan, which now matches Switzerland with an average connection speed of 14.9 Mbps. Four of the top 10 countries experienced year-over-year increases of more than 50% in average connection speeds, led by South Korea’s 84% annual rise.
Yearly increases were seen in 136 qualifying countries/regions, from 197% in Uruguay (5.6 Mbps) to 1.2% in the United Arab Emirates (4.6 Mbps).
The global average peak connection speed also saw a significant uptick, with a 20% increase to 25.4 Mbps from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2014. All but one of the 139 qualifying countries/regions experienced average peak connection speed increases this quarter, ranging from 2.3% in Iraq (30.4 Mbps) to 65% in Jersey (43.2 Mbps).
This is a significant improvement from the first quarter of 2014, when 92 qualifying countries/regions saw quarterly declines in their average peak connection speeds.