How Faster Internet Speeds Have Improved Global Broadband Penetration

Akamai Technologies has released its First Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet Report. Based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the report provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption metrics, notable Internet disruptions, IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation.

“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,” said David Belson, Editor of the State of the Internet Report. “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.”

Highlights from Akamai’s First Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet Report:

Global Average Connection Speeds and Global Broadband Connectivity

• Global average connection speed increased 12% from the fourth quarter of 2015 to 6.3 Mbps, a 23% increase year over year.
• Global average peak connection speed increased 6.8% to 34.7 Mbps in the first quarter, rising 14% year over year.
• Global 10 Mbps, 15 Mbps, and 25 Mbps broadband adoption also grew significantly in the first quarter of 2016, posting year over year gains of 10%, 14% and 19% at each threshold, respectively.

IPv4 and IPv6

• The number of unique IPv4 addresses connecting to the Akamai Intelligent Platform declined 0.2% to 808 million.
• Belgium remained the clear global leader in IPv6 adoption with 36% of its connections to Akamai occurring over IPv6, down 3.1% from the previous quarter.

Mobile Connectivity

• Average mobile connection speeds ranged from a high of 27.9 Mbps in the United Kingdom to a low of 2.2 Mbps in Algeria.