Where Are the Fastest Connection Speeds? Travel to Europe

Internet speeds are increasing worldwide, but there are a few countries leading the race.

According to the State of the Internet report from content delivery network Akamai , the average connection speed has risen 23 percent year over year. However, more and more people are surfing the Internet through mobile devices.

For the fastest mobile connection speed in the world, the United Kingdom takes the top prize. The U.K. has an average mobile speed of 27.9 Mbps. During “Internet Rush Hours”, the peak times when the highest number of users are surfing the mobile web, the average increased to 66.5 Mbps.

Falling second behind the U.K. was Belgium, with an average mobile speed of 19.4 Mbps. Only 18 countries had an average mobile speed that topped 10 Mbps, the majority of those were in Europe. Every European country in the report had mobile speeds that were over 4 Mbps. Greece had the slowest average speed at 6.2 Mbps.

The speed of many countries in the European region put some other countries to shame. For example, the United States had an average mobile speed of 5.1. Mbps, with a peak speed of 19.1 Mbps.

Looking at the different regions, Europe was by far in the lead, particularly for mobile speed during peak times as well. Germany had the highest peak speed worldwide at 171.6 Mbps. In the Asia Pacific region, Australia led with a peak speed of 147.6 Mbps. Angola led Africa with 86.8 Mbps, Peru led South America with 70.5 Mbps and Canada led North America with 68.9 Mbps.

What’s the reason for the growing mobile traffic?

Video has been the primary source of mobile data growth. Since 2011, there has been close to a 1,600% increase in traffic from video streaming. The need for faster mobile connection speeds stems from the growing use of mobile devices across the globe.

The lack of competition amongst mobile providers in some regions like the United States could be the reason why the average speed is behind regions like Europe, where there are more carriers and a more competitive marketplace.

Future of Mobile Connection Speeds

The average mobile speed is expected to continue to grow worldwide, as more people rely on mobile devices. Influences, such as the growing integration of 4G technologies have led to the prediction that by 2020, mobile network speeds will be up to 3.2 times faster globally.