The report, covering the fourth quarter, is based on data obtained via the Akamai Intelligent Platform, a cloud-based delivery network. Its focus includes network connectivity, attack traffic, and broadband trends.
Bit by bit -- literally -- the average global connection speed is inching up, demonstrating an overall increase in speed of 27 percent over 2012. The report shows a quarterly increase of 5.5 percent, for an average of 3.8 Mbps. Although speeds are increasing on average, the report noted that half of the top 10 countries/regions actually showed decreases when compared with the previous quarter, decreases ranging from 0.7 percent to nearly 7 percent. South Korea continues to top the global list for connectivity speeds, with an average of 21.9 Mbps, but it also showed a quarter-over-quarter decline of 1.1 percent.
The U.S.'s average speed increased 2 percent to 10 Mbps, and 133 countries/regions showed higher average connection speeds in 2013 than in 2012. All of the top 10 countries/regions now have average connection speeds above 10 Mbps, putting them into the high broadband category.
David Belson, editor of the Akamai report, said in a statement that "the fact that all of the top 10 countries/regions average connection speeds are now at or exceeding the high broadband threshold [indicates] the progress that's being made in broadband penetration."
To track attack traffic, Akamai said it has distributed a set of "unadvertised agents across the Internet."
The report said that 188 countries/regions were identified as originating attack/traffic, although Akamai pointed out that this does not necessarily mean those are the...