APAC's broad[band] disparity

Dylan Bushell-Embling
14 Sep 2010
00:00

Apac broadband disparity, Average measured connection speed, AkamaiAPAC is home to both some of the fastest and slowest average broadband speeds in the world, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots threatens to widen.

Mobile video platform operator Akamai has again conducted a connection speed analysis of the extensive traffic through its global server network, with the latest results showing a decline in average speeds across many Asian markets.

Korea easily held on to its position as the country with the fastest average broadband speeds of all countries served by Akamai content in Q1, with this average increasing by nearly 10% year-on-year to 12 Mbps.

Hong Kong was in second place at 9 Mbps, with its average growing 19% in a year. And while speeds in Japan shrank 1.6%, the country was in third place at 7.8 Mbps.

Some up, more down

But it was a different story for the rest of Asia. More countries in the region saw reductions in average speeds than gains. Singapore, the Philippines, India and China all saw year-on-year declines of over 10%, with China's average speed declining 15%.
According to Akamai director of market intelligence David Belson, last-mile congestion could be a factor behind this slump. Other factors, such as increased simultaneous home network usage, could also be influencing the figures.

Of the 12 APAC countries included in the study, nine averaged speeds below the 5 Mbps threshold for "high broadband." Taiwan was the only other Asian nation to make it into the global top 40, with the 19th fastest overall average speed of 4.3 Mbps.

Also notable is the spread between countries. As well as having some of the fastest average speeds, APAC has some of the slowest, including China in 124th place, India in 118th and the Philippines in 113th.

Despite its status as a developed economy, Australia placed just 50th on the global table, with average speeds of 2.6 Mbps. Neighboring New Zealand was higher-ranked at 42nd with 2.9 Mbps, and also increased its speeds 1% year-on-year, compared to an 8.6% decline in Australia.

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