James Riley
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 17:39
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 1 of 2
Average Australian internet connection speeds are ranked 50th in the world – below New Zealand at 42nd – and just one-fifth the speed of top-ranked nation South Korea, according to the latest 'State of the Internet' report from Akamai Technologies.
Australia's average internet connection speed was 2.6Mbps compared with more than 12Mbps for South Korea and New Zealand’s 2.9Mbps. Australia also ranked behind its regional competitors Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and well below Japan.
The United States was 16th fastest globally with average connection speeds of 4.7Mbps.
On any measure, Australia's internet connection speeds compare poorly to its developed nation peers or its Asia Pacific rivals.
In the Asia Pacific, South Korea continued to maintain its position as the country with the strongest connection speed metrics, placing first for average connection speed (12 Mbps) and average maximum connection speed (33 Mbps), as well as high broadband (65 per cent) adoption.
On average maximum speeds for internet connections, Australia ranked marginally better at 47th with average maximum speeds of 9.7Mbps – less than one third the top average speed of South Korea 33Mbps.
Within Australia, Canberra ranks as the capital city with the fastest internet connection speeds with an average of 2.6Mbps, and perhaps unsurprisingly given the priority it has been given by the National Broadband Network, Hobart ranks last with average speeds of 1.7Mbps.
No Australian cities come anywhere near being included in the Top 100 cities in the world for fast connections, where the top ranked cities enjoyed speeds in excess of 33Mbps. Asia dominates that list, with more than half (61) of those top cities in Japan.
While Queensland ranked as the number one state in Australia with average connection speeds of 2.7Mbps, the population centres of Sydney and Melbourne were a drag on the chain for NSW and Victoria, each with average connection speeds of 2.3Mbps
