Average speeds in Korea were recorded as 26.1Mbps over IPv4 according to the report, down 0.7% on the previous quarter, and 2.4% below the previous year
Korea's speeds were still significantly higher than the 23.6Mbps average offered by second placed Norway, whichwere up 26% year on year, while Sweden, Hong Kong and Switzerland rounded out the top five.
Europe continued to show positive increases in speed and usage, with every country except Russia increasing average connection speeds YOY. 27 of 31 surveyed European countries had average speeds of 10Mbps or above, one more than the previous quarter.
Belgium remained the global leader in the adoption of IPv6, which is being driven by cable and mobile providers, according to Akamai. Telenet, Kabel Deutschland, and Sky UK led the way in Europe with 65%, 53% and 50% of dual-stacked requests to Akamai being made over the technology.
Mobile connectivity in the UK was the highest average connection speed recorded in the world, at 26.8Mbps, according to the report.
“Akamai, the world’s leading Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider, uses its globally distributed Intelligent PlatformTM to process trillions of requests each day. This allows us to gather massive amounts of data on metrics related to broadband connectivity, cloud security, and media delivery.
“The State of the Internet was built to leverage that data better enabling businesses and governments to make intelligent, strategic decisions. Each quarter, Akamai uses this data to publish reports in the State of the Internet focused on broadband connectivity and cloud security.”
The US led the Americas with average speeds of 17.2Mbps, up 21% on the Q4 2015, but was ranked 35th globally. Canada (14.9Mbps), Chile (8.6Mbps), Uruguay (8.3Mbps) and Mexico rounded up the top five.
The District of Columbia continued to lead the US regionally with average speeds of 26.7Mbps, up 25% year on year, with Rhode Island (22.4Mbps), Delaware (22.4Mbps), Massachusetts (21.7Mbps) and New York (20.6Mbps) rounding out the top five.
All 51 states recorded average connection speeds of above 10Mbps, with 34 above 15Mbps, up from 30 in Q3. Seven states saw quarterly speeds decline, however.
Kenya led for speeds in the Middle East and Africa region, recording an average connection speed of 15Mbps. This was a massive 198% increase on 2015.
Israel recorded speeds of 14.4Mbps, coming in second; Qatar (11.9Mbps) was third; United Arab Emirates (10.7Mbps); and Kuwait (9Mbps) made the top five.
AT&T deal
The report comes as Akamai announced a renewal of its partnership with AT&T that will see the operator continue to offer Akamai’s full product suite until at least 2019.
The agreement means AT&T will offer Akamai’s media delivery and web security services, as part of its business solutions portfolio.
It will also see Akamai expand its global server footprint located at the edge of AT&T’s network to offer more efficient content routing and improved delivery of digital content and web applications.
“Our expanded agreement with AT&T is a testament to the strong and trusted relationship our organizations have forged with businesses around the world,” said Tom Leighton, CEO and co-founder, Akamai.
“Together, we’ve demonstrated the value and efficiencies of having Akamai’s content delivery capabilities deployed deep into the AT&T IP network. We’re excited to add DDoS protection to the suite of available solutions, addressing a critical customer concern as the size and frequency of cyber attacks continues to rise.”
