The U.S. ranks 28th in internet speed, and not getting any faster.

[SellmeyourDVD]

A good story to shove down the throats of those who say digital downloads are taking over

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090...20090825230334

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States ranks 28th in the world in average Internet connection speed and is not making significant progress in building a faster network, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said the average download speed in South Korea is 20.4 megabits per second (mbps) -- four times faster than the US average of 5.1 mbps.

Japan trails South Korea with an average of 15.8 mbps followed by Sweden at 12.8 mbps and the Netherlands at 11.0 mbps, the report said.

It said tests conducted by speedmatters.org found the average US download speed had improved by only nine-tenths of a megabit per second between 2008 and 2009 -- from 4.2 mbps to 5.1 mbps.

"The US has not made significant improvement in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet," the report said. "Our nation continues to fall far behind other countries."

"People in Japan can upload a high-definition video in 12 minutes, compared to a grueling 2.5 hours at the US average upload speed," the report said.

It said 18 percent of those who took a US speed test recorded download speeds that were slower than 768 kilobits per second, which does not even qualify as basic broadband, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Sixty-four percent connected at up to 10 mbps, 19 percent connected at speeds greater than 10 mbps and two percent exceeded 25 mbps.

The United States was ranked 20th in broadband penetration in a survey of 58 countries released earlier this year by Boston-based Strategy Analytics.

South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan were the top five countries listed in terms of access to high-speed Internet.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to put broadband in every home and the FCC has embarked on an ambitious project to bring high-speed Internet access to every corner of the United States.

According to the CWA report, the fastest download speeds in the United States are in the northeastern parts of the country while the slowest are in states such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

[HomeTheaterVirgin]

My speed is 13-15Mbs upload and 2-3Mbs download is that anygood?

[Blubaru]

20mb here in Florida

[Batman1980]

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

Their cellphone plans are less expensive as well! We're getting ripped off!

John

[RustyK94]

54mbs in Scotland

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

well I have 30mbit download/ 2mbit upload (both unlimited) for 22$ here in Slovakia..

M.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

Talk of being the wealthiest nation, yet we are still the cheapest in the world.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

I'll keep paying 3X the cost for internet as long as I also get to keep paying 1/3 of the taxes.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

You do realize most Europeans pay 1/3 what we do for twice the Internet speed, right? For some reason the wealthiest nation in the world can't build proper Internet networks for the public to use.

I think the main reason is high population density in Europe. This drives the costs down significantly and it is reflected in the prices.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by syncguy

I think the main reason is high population density in Europe. This drives the costs down significantly and it is reflected in the prices.

not as much an issue of bringing the cost down (a foot of cable is a foot of cable) but the user pool is bigger and that it is shared by more people.

[flipmac]

Mine is measured at 15mbps (Vancouver, Canada), but I'm sad to find out that Canada overall is listed at 36th with 5.6mbps average. Then again, it's a huge country that is mostly empty like the US but with only 1/10th the population, so its actually worse.

South Korea being #1 is no surprise because the country heavily invests in IT; they have a government-laid, nation-wide 100mbps network and the service providers (which some even have received loans from the government) are leasing it for very low prices and passing the savings on to the consumers.

Also, the country is a quarter the size of California but with 15x the pop. density of the USA; this and other things translate to early adoptions and faster spread of new tech, etc.

[HomeTheaterVirgin]

WOW 15MB DOWNLOAD.2MB UPLOAD $59.99 HERE IN NEBRASKA!!!!!!!



Good thing my dad is a supervisor we get it for free

[rayray8]

its not that the u.s. doesnt have higher speed capability, its because our government regulates how fast the internet provided is.

[RustyK94]

Originally Posted by rayray8

its not that the u.s. doesnt have higher speed capability, its because our government regulates how fast the internet provided is.

So when was the last time they regulate?

19 oatcakes

[MrVorhees]

Originally Posted by HomeTheaterVirgin

My speed is 13-15Mbs upload and 2-3Mbs download is that anygood?

No, that is horrible, if your upload is 15Mbs, then your download should be at least 150Mbs!!

But i think you have just mixed Download with Upload ;D

BTW. i'm @ 20Mbs Download.

[HomeTheaterVirgin]

Originally Posted by GSX600F

No, that is horrible, if your upload is 15Mbs, then your download should be at least 150Mbs!!

But i think you have just mixed Download with Upload ;D

BTW. i'm @ 20Mbs Download.

oops no its 15 download ,2.5 upload

[Uniquely]

Strangeness. The post by Shalimar that brought this months old thread back to the top is no longer showing.

Internet speeds may not be the deterrent that many think though. I can currently stream 1080P video and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio from Zune HD with a measly 6Mb download speed..... and it looks fantastic.

[Clark Kent]

It is not a fair comparison. There are entire countries in Europe smaller than some of the individual states in the U.S. Our population is much more dispersed over a larger geographic area. Download speeds in the densely-populated Northeast corridor and West Coast cities are as good as anywhere in the world. People in the middle of the country will likely have to wait for wireless highspeed Internet.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by SellmeyourDVD

According to the CWA report, the fastest download speeds in the United States are in the northeastern parts of the country while the slowest are in states such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

This is the core paragraph of the article.

The reason the average speed is slow, is because there are very large parts of the US which are rural and have dialup if anything. Notice that NONE of the top speed providers are large countries. Instead they are smaller countries which pretty much don't have rural areas anymore, or have rural areas without anyone really living there.

Which brings me back to the above quote. The fastest part of the US is the northeast, and the northeast is one giant metropolis. The states of Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are amongst the ones with the largest rural/urban ratio in the US.

If you rank country wealth vs. Urban/Rural ratio I'd bet you get nearly this exact list.

There is no realistic scenario at all that would have the US in the top 10 of average internet speeds. Even government intervention would not do it.