Top 15 Countries With The Fastest Internet: Pando Network's Global Internet Speed Study, August 2011

Pando Networks, a company specializing in delivering large quantities of online information to other companies, has released its most recent Global Internet Speed Study, which ranks 224 countries on their internet speed and download completion rate.

The findings are based on the data from 27 million downloads by 20 million computers between January and June of 2011.

According to the report, the worldwide average download speed is 580KBps, which places the U.S. in 26th place at 616KBps. However, provider matters. In a press release, Pando reveals that in the U.S., Verizon customers enjoy average download speeds of 1,056KBps, much higher than the national average, but still only half as swift as the fastest country on the list.

The top 15 is dominated by Asia, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia, with Eastern Europe making a surprisingly strong showing. Although, according to Ars Technica, this is perhaps not so surprising considering the recent push towards lightening fast broadband in countries like Lithuania (#4 on the list).

As Pando CEO Robert Levitan states in a press release:

The disparities we found were striking. While, in general, developed economies outpaced the developing world in average download speeds, big names such as the US, UK, France, China and Canada were not even close to being the fastest. Instead, we saw high speeds in markets such as Eastern Europe where focus on infrastructural development and favorable geography promote a higher level of connectivity.

Check out the slideshow (below) to find out which countries topped Pando's Global Internet Speed list in 2011. Then, see how Pando's results compare to a separate study on the State of the Internet in 2010 by Akamai Technologies.

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Comments

[Alfredo Larios]

04:30 PM on 11/08/2011

I am not shocked that the United States isnt on the top 15. Greed controls everything here.

[spytheweb]

04:14 PM on 10/19/2011

I see all the time ads telling us how fast phone speeds are. Meanwhile i'am watching youtube videos that stop and start 10 times while i'am watching them. I can't use Skype because my broadband is too slow. What's going on?

[Randy McKenzie]

01:49 AM on 09/28/2011

So what. I've never been restricted from doing anything by the lack of speed on my access. And all of you who say the other countries must have government provided internet, some do, some don't. But you can bet that in the countries where the government provides all the stuff you want, you're going to be taxed at about 70% of your paycheck. I would much rather be able to keep my pay and decide for myself what I want to spend it on.

[hk68550]

03:19 PM on 10/14/2011

i'd love to kick your face in.

[spytheweb]

04:18 PM on 10/19/2011

I only wish i could get 100mbps (like Korea & Japan) at any price in NV.

[edgeninja]

12:47 AM on 09/28/2011

BULGARIA has faster internet access than we do.

Hang your head in shame, America.

[moutonnoir]

11:52 PM on 09/27/2011

please note people: almsot all of these countries are either socialist democracies or 'outright european socialist states'...

we are getting the short end of the stick - and being told the stick was never long to begin with...

[Smith1820]

11:43 PM on 09/27/2011

Yeah but Al Gore invented it, so there!

[RLaitres]

09:53 PM on 09/27/2011

That the United States ranks only 26th does not surprise some of us as American companies are always "milking" whatever they have to the "last penny" before moving forward. It is the IBM marketing plan applied to other industries. It may come as a shock to many, but IBM has never had the best hardware of best software. However, they have always been "good" at selling themselves, even if their products have only been satisfactory or acceptable at best. That is why they "sold out" thei PC brand to China, that which now name Lenovo. IBM could no longer keep up the pretense of being the "best" in that field either. So, they got out of the business altogether.

[Blakjak572]

09:37 PM on 09/27/2011

WE'RE #1..WE'RE #1.....wait...what? Isn't Moldova a fictional country from a comic book??

[akakman2001]

07:21 PM on 09/27/2011

As with any comparison, it's all a load of bunk. How much infrastructure does it take for relatively high speed to cover an area the size of Hong Kong? Amazing that the largest geographic areas suffered in the 'comparison'. China, Canada, US. Bet Russia isn't too high on the list either. Try comparing Hong Kong to NYC, or Japan to California.

And for the record I just did a speed test. 10350 kbps. Where does that put me on the list? Oh about 5 times faster than the number one on the list.

[moutonnoir]

11:39 PM on 09/27/2011

average.. cant you read?

USA is in the pits RE internet speed.. especially if you factor in cost - then we are just suckers... as usual.

[virg1l]

02:12 AM on 10/05/2011

100Mbps home connection is 12USD/mo (50Mbps is 9USD/mo). And it includes unlimited mobile internet (7.2Mbps), though to be honest, I use another provider for mobile voice+data, since the customer service for RDS sucks and their network coverage isn't too good.

I can't really explain why the internet works so well in this area, doesn't seem to be limited to Romania, our neighboring countries are also on the list. I'm particularly surprised about Moldova, since it's a fairly poor country (Romania is generally considered fairly poor too - fights Bulgaria for the title "poorest country in EU" - but Moldova is way poorer).
Oh, and AFAIK none of the countries around here has government-subsidized internet access (not for the general public anyway, only for universities/students).

[virg1l]

01:55 AM on 10/05/2011

You made me curious, so I just did a test.
85.66Mbps download speed, 18.73Mbps upload speed. (I live in Romania, number 2 on that list),

Now, do you understand the difference between "average speed" and "your speed"?

[akakman2001]

07:39 AM on 10/05/2011

What a suprise, a bunch of people missing the point. Yeah, I know what average means. Do you have any idea what 'scope' means? How much physical infrastructure is required to make high speed internet available to people when your entire nation is roughly the size of the state of michigan and has a population about on par with NYC. So yeah, it's going to take a couple of extra bucks to run all that fiber op around some place this size.

It would be like saying wi-fi works better when you live in a 1000 sq ft shack than it does if you live in a 6000 sq ft home. Well sure, I guess. But you know what, I'd still rather take the home vs the shack.

[HawaiiSteve]

06:58 PM on 09/27/2011

When the main endeavor of your country is feeding the unlimited greed of a few individuals and corporations, how can you even begin to expect that the rest of the citizenry should have access to the best of anything. Internet, health care, education; all of it takes a second seat to the quest for more profit.

Do you really need to own the world to find happiness?

[LarryA]

06:57 PM on 09/27/2011

Yet another thing that the rest of the world is beating us at. Well done government!

[Wayne Doutt]

09:47 PM on 09/27/2011

What does the government have to do with it. It should be private enterprise! Demand faster service from your provider. When I was in Germany 10 years ago we had service that was magnitudes faster that it is here

[RLaitres]

09:58 PM on 09/27/2011

Some people need someone to blame. And, the "government" always makes a very good scapegoatk, even when the failure is not the government's at all. Many individuals should really do a great deal more homework before even considering getting on-line, never mind posting anything.

[moutonnoir]

11:40 PM on 09/27/2011

private industry has destroyed internet access. in germany it was probably public...

in usa we have monopolies that control television who are desperate to control the internet.... they are doing a good job.. we are not.

you do realize that the fast internet in germany was likely public, right?

[moutonnoir]

03:53 PM on 09/27/2011

we are so doomed.

notice how these are the countries our jobs are disappearing to?

blindingly fast internet should be a pride of our nation - but instead we get privatized monopolisitic greed..

anti-trust was invented to keep the cable companies from owning the internet.. though they didnt know it then...

a shame they are ignoring it now..

[Wayne Doutt]

09:49 PM on 09/27/2011

Anti-trust is older than the internet. It started back in the 1800s when the railroads controlled the country

[moutonnoir]

10:15 PM on 09/27/2011

duh... read....."
anti-trust was invented to keep the cable companies from owning the internet.. though they didnt know it then... "

[LRAdams]

01:58 PM on 09/27/2011

This is great news* the rest of the world is driving a Porsche 911 GT and the United Sates is driving 1981 Chevrolet Chevette.

[Oh Johnny]

02:59 PM on 09/27/2011

Slow down load speeds are set that way on purpose.

ALEC= American Legislative Exchange Council is the cause of this.

Oil companies to undermine climate change proponents;
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, arguing that states should be banned from importing prescription drugs;

Telecom firms to block local authorities from offering cheap or free municipally-owned broadband;
Insurance companies to prevent state insurance commissioners from requiring insurers to meet strengthened accounting and auditing rules;

Big banks, recommending that seniors be forced to give up their homes via reverse mortgages in order to receive Medicaid;

The asbestos industry, trying to shut the courthouse door to Americans suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases; and,

Enron to deregulate the utility industries, which eventually caused the U.S. to lose what the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) estimated as $5 trillion in market value.

http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/15044.htm

[moutonnoir]

03:54 PM on 09/27/2011

good list!

i really blame deregulation of utilities here..

we should be treating this as a utility, not a cash-cow for comcast and verizon...

[Ghosting]

01:41 PM on 09/27/2011

I assume everything is supposed to be measured in kilobytes because in the article it uses kilobytes but in the slide show it uses kilobits. Otherwise my 13, 700 kbps would be quite remarkable.

[dmsdzinr]

01:27 PM on 09/27/2011

NOTICE!: America isn't even on the list!!!