National Study of Real-Time Internet Connection Speeds Shows U.S. Falling Further Behind Other Advanced Nations
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/national-study-of-real-time-internet-connection-speeds-shows-u-s-falling-further-behind-other-advanced-nations.html
August 12, 2008
For more information, Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org
EDITOR'S NOTE:
A full list of state rankings is available at www.speedmatters.org/pages/state.html.
(Washington, DC.)—The results of a nationwide study of Internet
connection speeds in the United States reveal little progress over the
previous year in the country's median data download speed. At the
present rate—with a gain of only four-tenths of one megabit per
second—it will take the U.S. more than one hundred years to catch up
with current Internet speeds in Japan.
The national report is based on aggregated data from nearly
230,000 Internet users who took the online Speed Matters Speed Test (www.speedmatters.org), a project of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
The Speed Test, which measures the last-mile speed of a user's
Internet connection, shows that the median real-time download speed in
the U.S. is a mere 2.3 megabits per second (mbps). The best available
estimates show average download speeds in Japan of 63 mbps, in South
Korea of 49 mbps and in France of 17 mbps.[1]
That means the same multimedia file that takes four minutes to download
in South Korea would take nearly an hour and a half to download in the
U.S. "This isn't about how fast someone can download a full-length
movie. Speed matters to our economy and our ability to remain
competitive in a global marketplace," said Larry Cohen, president,
Communications Workers of America. "Rural development, telemedicine and
distance learning all rely on truly high-speed, universal networks."
Speed matters: A report on Internet speeds in all 50 states (PDF; 5.0 MB)
Source: Communications Workers of America
State Ranking Chart (PDF; 177 KB)