• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 22, 2016

Year-over-year, global markets experienced strong growth in average connection speeds and overall broadband adoption, according to the latest findings from content delivery service company Akamai.

“This is particularly important as consumer expectations rise and many high-profile events, like the summer games in Rio, will be streamed this year,” David Belson, senior director of industry and data intelligence at Akamai, notes in a new report.

“The progress we’re seeing across our key metrics shows that, while there’s still work to be done, more parts of the world are increasingly able to support the delivery of broadcast-quality video content online,” according to Belson.

Global average connection speeds increased 8.6% to 5.6 Mbps from the third quarter, which represented a 23% increase, year-over-year.

After a slight decline in the third quarter, the global average peak connection speed bounced back with a 1% increase to 32.5 Mbps in the fourth quarter. That was thanks to 21% growth over the past year.

In the United States specifically, 10 states had 14% or more of unique IP addresses connected to Akamai at average speeds of at least 25 Mbps. The District of Columbia held the top spot at 25% adoption -- a 15% jump, quarter-over-quarter.

As for mobile connectivity, the United Kingdom had the fastest average mobile connection speed at 26.8 Mbps, with Spain in second place at 14.0 Mbps.