Akamai Technologies has published its First Quarter, 2015 State of the Internet Report. Based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the report provides insight into key global statistics including connection speeds, broadband adoption across fixed and mobile networks, and IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation.
“We saw generally positive results across all of the key metrics during the first quarter of 2015,” said David Belson, editor of the report. “The increase in global broadband speeds demonstrates an ongoing commitment to higher standards. While connectivity will continue to differ across many regions, we see the highest broadband speeds in countries/regions with high population densities and strong government backing or support, as well as those that foster competition among internet providers.”
In the first quarter of 2015, the global average connection speed for the first time reached 5Mbps, a ten per cent increase over the previous quarter. Quarterly global average connection speeds among the top ten countries all remained well above 10Mbps, and six of the ten had average speeds above 15Mbps, as Ireland Sweden and the Netherlands joined South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan in exceeding this benchmark in the first quarter.
All European countries surveyed in the first quarter achieved average connection speeds above the 4Mbps broadband threshold, with 13 countries in total achieving an average connection speed above the 10Mbps threshold (Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Romania, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany). With an unusually large 37 per cent quarterly increase, Ireland beat out previous fourth quarter leader Sweden to take the top spot.
For the first time, the State of the Internet is reporting on the percentage of IP addresses connecting to Akamai at average speeds of above 25Mbps. Globally, 4.6 per cent of unique IP addresses connected to Akamai at average connection speeds of at least 25Mbps, a 12 per cent increase over the previous quarter.
While South Korea led the world in 25Mbps broadband adoption, with a 31 per cent adoption rate, seven European countries made an appearance in the top 10 country/region listing: Sweden (number 3) headed the pack with a 15 per cent adoption rate, followed by Lithuania (number 5), Latvia, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Year-over-year, the global 25Mbps adoption rate grew 20 per cent; in Europe, Lithuania achieved an astounding 271 per cent yearly increase.
The first quarter of 2015 saw a number of announcements across Europe that point to continuing growth in fast broadband connectivity. The Italian government approved a six-year $6.7 billion high broadband connectivity initiative with the goal of delivering internet speeds of 100Mbps within cities, and 30Mbps or more in less populated regions. In Wales, the government is collaborating with British telecommunications company BT to make 30Mbps broadband capabilities available throughout the country, including less-connected rural areas; at the beginning of March, more than 45,000 homes had already gained fast broadband access through the Superfast Cymru project.
European countries continued to lead the world in IPv6 adoption, the report found. Continuing with the trend seen in the fourth quarter of 2014, the number of unique IPv4 addresses worldwide connecting to Akamai grew by nearly 10 million in the first quarter of 2015. Among the top ten countries in the first quarter, the United Kingdom and Japan showed the largest quarterly gains at 5.7 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.
European countries continued to dominate the global top ten countries/regions with the largest percentage of content requests made to Akamai over IPv6 in the first quarter of 2015. Similar to last quarter, Belgium maintained its clear lead, with one-third of content requests being made over IPv6, more than double the percentage of second-place Germany. Portugal, with a 57 per cent quarter-over-quarter jump in IPv6 traffic, joined the top ten this quarter, pushing Romania off the list.
In the First Quarter, 2015 State of the Internet Report, 62 countries/regions qualified for inclusion in the mobile connectivity section. The United Kingdom had the fastest average connection speed at 20.4Mbps, a 28 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
