Asian countries have taken the top spots in yet another broadband table, this time one that combines quality of service and take-up.
South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan occupy the first three positions and Singapore equal fifth in the study, which tested download and upload speeds and latency in 72 countries.
Korea, which topped the rankings last year, this year reported average download throughput of 33.5Mbps, up 55% from 2009, and average upload speed of 17Mbps, up 430%. It has 100% broadband penetration.
Oxford University’s Said Business School, which carried out the survey, said that as a result of increased network investment, broadband quality had improved by 50% since the first study in 2008, while penetration had grown from 40% of households to 49%.
The tests on 40 million broadband connections found that average global download speed had lifted from 3.8 Mbps in 2008 to 5.9 Mbps this year, while upload speed has risen from 794kbps to 1.8 Mbps.
It said 14 countries were ready for next-gen internet applications such as high-def TV and high quality video communications: South Korea, Japan, Latvia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Lithuania, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Iceland.
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