With Global Internet Speeds Rising, How’s Pakistan Doing?

The internet as we know it has evolved by leaps and bounds.

The exponential growth in internet users and the use of social media and video sites have meant one thing – we need more faster internet speeds and we needed them yesterday.

Akamai, the renowned content delivery network, states that average internet speeds all around the world have increased this year, in response to the requirements of the modern-day internet user.

We take a look at interesting statistics provided by Akamai that give us a look at internet speeds globally and how Pakistan compares to them.

Which Countries have the Fastest Internet?

Akamai lists the countries according to their Internet speeds in quarterly and yearly reports. The latest first quarterly report (Q1) for 2016 gives a list of the countries having the fastest internet speeds around the world.

South Korea has the fastest internet with an average speed of 29 Mbps, followed by Norway and Sweden that make up the top 3 countries. The interesting thing is that the average speeds are increasing all over the world and are presently at 6.3 Mbps.

Countries Which Have Adopted IP v6 usage

One reason why some countries are doing better than others when it comes to internet speeds – the use of IPv6 over the old IPv4.

IPv6 is the Internet’s next-generation protocol, designed to replace the current Internet Protocol IP Version 4.

IPv4 is the old protocol in use, and it hasn’t changed much from its inception in 1981. If people continued to use IPv4, the world could’ve ran out of IP addresses that are essential for using internet. The use of the newer IPv6 protocol solves this issue and adds more security.

There is a rise in the number of countries adopting IPv6. Belgium is leading this trend and is followed by Greece and Switzerland that make up the top 3 countries. IPv6 is quickly replacing the IPv4 internet protocol in these countries.

Mobile Connection Speeds

Along with internet speeds, you must be wondering about the latest mobile connection speeds. The UK has the highest average speed of 27.9 Mbps, followed by Belgium and Germany. Algeria has the lowest mobile connectivity speed having an average speed of 2.2 Mbps. As for the average peak mobile connection speeds, they ranged from 171.6 Mbps in Germany to 11.7 Mbps in Ghana.

Where does Pakistan rank?

Pakistan has a low average speed of Internet connectivity. It is below 3.5 Mbps, so low that it isn’t even mentioned in Akamai’s report.

Pakistanis enjoy an average mobile connectivity speed of 3.4 Mbps and that too depending on ideal cell tower coverage.

Unsurprisingly, Pakistan along with Venezuela and Algeria were the only three countries having 4 Mbps broadband adoption rates below 5%.

Concluding Thoughts

From the 56kbps dial-up modems of the 90s to the staggeringly high Mbps internet connections of today, we’ve come a long way with regards to how we use the internet and how fast data is handled.

It is hoped that Pakistan takes the necessary steps to remain at the forefront of technological development, and this requires up-gradation of the country’s bandwidth and IT infrastructure.

Via Akamai