Here's the good news: Average broadband speed has now reached 4.7 Mbps, up from 3.9 Mbps last year, according to Akamai's first quarter report.
But here's the bad news: Speeds in the U.S. are
slower than in 15 other countries, including South Korea (12 Mbps), Romania (6.3 Mbps), and Switzerland (5.3 Mbps).
Akamai also looked at the fastest broadband connection by cities, but the
U.S. lagged in this metric as well. No U.S. city made the top 10, or even top 50. Instead, the fastest broadband city in the U.S. -- Monterey, Calif., with average connections of 25 Mbps -- placed
57th worldwide, according to Akamai. The fastest was Masan, South Korea, at around 41 Mbps.
The U.S. also lags in terms of adoption, with only 56% of Web connections at speeds of at least 2
Mbps, Akamai reports. Forty other countries -- including Switzerland (91%), Bulgaria (89%) and Belgium (87%) -- had higher adoption rates.
While some U.S. residents eschew broadband because
they think it costs too much or they don't see the need for it, millions of people lack broadband because they can't obtain the service. In fact, the Federal Communications Commission told
Congress last week that Internet service providers weren't deploying broadband in a "reasonable and timely fashion" given that between 14 million and 24 million Americans have no access to
high-speed lines.