Europe has much faster mobile Web connections than US

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Turkey has faster average mobile Internet connections than the U.S., according to a new global report released Wednesday which found mobile connection speeds are increasing worldwide.

The average connection speed for the U.S. was 5.1 Megabits Per Second (Mbps), the traditional unit for measuring connection speed.

That speed was slower than the average connections in Turkey, Kenya and Paraguay. All of those nations pale in comparison to the United Kingdom, which enjoyed 27.9 Mbps connection speeds on average -- the highest according to software company Akamai.

The nation with slowest mobile Internet connections was Algeria, with 2.2 Mbps.

In general, most European countries, including Germany and Slovakia, had significantly faster mobile web connections than the U.S.

Overall Internet connection speeds, i.e. not just mobile, are increasing steadily worldwide.

Measured during the first few months of 2016, the average connection speed for the world was 6.3 Mbps, a 23 percent increase from the same period of 2015.

The State of the Internet Report showcased mobile and traditional Web connections.

Online video streaming is likely a big part of why speeds are increasing. Global connection speeds are predicted to tick upward this summer because of the Rio Olympic Games, the company said.

“Live sports will be at the forefront this summer as we prepare for the games in Brazil, with expectations that this year’s events will be watched by more online viewers than ever,” report editor David Belson noted in a statement. “Global connection speeds have more than doubled since the summer of 2012, which can help support higher quality video streaming for bigger audiences across even more connected devices and platforms.”

Akamai timed Internet speeds by measuring how fast content – ranging from traditional webpages, software updates and online video -- was delivered to users in a specific country.

Based in Massachusetts and California, Akamai is the largest content delivery network in the world.