Only Nine Countries Meet Future Broadband Demand

by candice.tsuei | October 2, 2009 at 09:58 am

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A recent study investigating the broadband quality across 66 countries worldwide has found that only 9 countries are ready for future demand, with two-thirds barely meeting the criteria for today's requirements only.

Conducted by MBA students at Oxford's Said Business School and University of Oviedo's Department of Applied Science for netword builder Cisco, the study measured internet download and upload speeds as well as penetration through 24 million broadband speed test records from Speedtest.net from May to July this year.

A total score of 30 or more indicated a country was well equipped to handle today's internet needs, such as social networking, basic video chatting and streaming. A score of at least 50, based on a slightly different formula that emphasizes higher upload speeds, indicated a country's broadband infrastructure was well positioned for internet uses that will be more commonplace over the next three to five years, such as high-definition video streaming, visual networking and large-file sharing.

Among the 66 countries surveyed, nine countries - South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania, and Denmark - were found to be geared up for future uses. This is a significant improvement from the survey result last year as back then Japan was the only country that met the required score for the category.

“The broadband quality study shows us which countries have made real moves towards the internet of the future," said Maria Rosalia Vicente, a professor at the University of Oviedo, in a statement. "It also provides fresh evidence of the urban versus rural quality divide. The challenge for countries now is to bridge this quality divide."

According to the study, the average download speed globally is 4.75Mbps, with an average upload speed of 1.3Mbps.

Countries "ready for tomorrow": South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania, and Denmark.

Countries "comfortable for today": Switzerland, Czech Republic, Norway, United States, Slovakia, Portugal, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Belgium, Slovenia, Taiwan, Austria, and Hong Kong.

Countries "meeting needs for today": Iceland, Estonia, Greece, Singapore, Canada, UK, Australia, Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Ukraine, Turkey, Ireland, and Italy.

Countries "below needs for today": Malta, Luxembourg, Chile, China, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Thailand, Tunisia, Mexico, Philippines, UAE, Malaysia, Pakistan,Colombia, Morocco, Vietnam, South Africa, and Indonesia.