4G SIM NewsThe UK has the fastest 3G and 4G speeds across the globe according to a new State of the Internet report from Akami, which showed that speeds in the UK were more than twice as fast as its nearest rival during the first quarter of 2015.
The quarterly State of the Internet report used data from the Akami content delivery network to determine average 3G and 4G speeds in different countries, and suggested that in the UK we enjoy an average mobile connection speed of 20.4 Mbps. This represents a 27% increase from the previous quarter and is significantly higher than the average speed recently quoted by Ofcom, which was 15 Mbps.
Demark – the country that came second in the 3G and 4G speed rankings only reached average speeds of 10 Mbps. Average speeds for other countries included Sweden at 8.9 Mbps, Russia at 7.5 Mbps, and the US at just 4 Mbps. Vietnam was at the bottom of the list with users there only achieving average connections speeds of 1.3 Mbps.
While the UK did particularly well in average connection speeds, its peak speeds were less impressive. The report recorded peak connection speeds in the UK of 90.9 Mbps, while peak speeds of 149.3 Mbps were recorded in Australia (with average speeds of just 7.6 Mbps). Only Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand achieved peak speeds of over 100 Mbps. The lowest peak speed recorded was in Indonesia, where peaks of just 8.2 Mbps were found.
Mobile broadband in the UK appears to be faring better than its fixed line cousin. While 95% of mobile broadband connections in the UK are now able to offer speeds exceeding 4 Mbps, only 85% of fixed line broadband connections are able to offer the same. Akami’s report recorded average speeds for fixed line broadband of just 11.6 Mbps. This is considerably slower than the country that leads the way for fixed line broadband speeds – South Korea – which achieved average speeds of 23.6 Mbps. Ireland achieved second place with average fixed line broadband speeds of 17.4 Mbps, and Hong Kong came in third place with a very respectable 16.7 Mbps.
According to David Belson, editor of the report, “We saw generally positive results across all of the key metrics during the first quarter of 2015. The increase in global broadband speeds demonstrates an ongoing commitment to higher standards. While connectivity will continue to differ across many regions, we see the highest broadband speeds in countries/regions with high population densities and strong government backing or support, as well as those that foster competition among internet providers.”
The source data used to calculate average and peak mobile connection speeds for this report came from smartphones, tablets, computers, and other devices that connect to the Internet through mobile network providers. The State of the Internet report has been compiled and published by Akami every quarter for the last seven years. Akamai’s globally distributed Intelligent Platform enables it to collect vast volumes of data on many metrics, including Internet connection speeds, network connectivity/availability issues, and IPv6 adoption progress, as well as traffic patterns across leading web properties and digital media providers.