Broadband Speed Is Increasing, But US is Falling Behind
By Carter McCoy, IDG Creative Lab
Jul 23, 2013 10:46 AM
A fast, reliable Internet connection is imperative for most small and medium businesses. A new study from Akamai suggests that the Internet is getting faster overall, but just how fast varies from one country to the next—or even between different regions within a country.
Akamai gathers data from customers around the world, and analyzes it through its Intelligent Platform analysis tool to produce the quarterly State of the Internet report. The data from the first quarter of 2013 shows a four percent increase in the average global connection speed.
The news for the United States is mixed. Akamai reports an overall increase of nearly 30 percent for the average Internet connection in the US. However, at an average of 8.6Mbps, the United States still fell from eighth to ninth place overall this quarter. That makes the United States about 40 percent slower than the first place nation—South Korea—and leaves the US behind Latvia and the Czech Republic.
As if slower Internet speeds aren’t bad enough for business customers, US broadband also costs more. A study from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) study on the impact of broadband speed and price on small business found that an average business in a metropolitan area spends $115 per month for Internet access, while an average business in a rural area spend $93 per month. The catch for rural businesses is that they’re getting significantly slower Internet speeds for the money.
full: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2045046/broadband-speed-is-increasing-but-us-is-falling-behind.html
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