U.S. slips in world Internet speed rankings

U.S. Internet speeds are not only slow, compared to other developed and newly developed nations – but they’re getting relatively slower and we’re falling further behind.

Every quarter, the huge content delivery network, Akamai, issues its State of the Internet report. In 2012, the U.S. ranked eighth in overall Internet connection speeds, but as of first quarter 2013 the country slipped to ninth. Ninth, that is, behind South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

The problem is not, of course, that the U.S. lags in the development of broadband technology. Rather, it’s the way broadband is marketed, distributed and priced. As Speed Matters reported in June, cable – the predominant provider of U.S. broadband – makes it hard for Americans to get top-of-the-line connections.

Speed Matters quoted CNET reporter Marguerite Reardon, who said, “The cable providers have been slow to make its speedier options broadly available, and when they do, they charge significantly higher prices that escalate as you move to faster tiers.”

So, while ninth in the world isn’t necessarily the worst rating the U.S. could receive, American subscribers pay much higher prices for fast service than consumers pay in other countries. For instance, Comcast – the largest cable provider in the U.S. – charges $320 per month for 305Mbps. In Hong Kong that same speed costs $25 a month, and in Seoul it’s $30.

State of the Internet, Vol. 6, Number 1 (Akamai, 2013)

Cable says yes to superfast Internet, but its prices say no. (Speed Matters, Jun. 19, 2013)

U.S. Internet Speed Slows Compared To Other Countries: Report (HuffPost, Jul. 24, 2013)