US ranks 13th globally in average Internet connection speed

Want a really fast Internet connection in the United States? You're most likely to get it in on the East Coast, according to the latest State of the Internet report for the fourth quarter issued by Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM).

And, although Internet speeds are getting faster--the average connection speed was up 14 percent from a year ago, to 5.8 Mbps--less than half topped 5 Mbps.

North Bergen, N.J., and Boston had the highest speeds for cities, at 8.4 Mbps. Others above 7.6 Mbps were: Jersey City, N.J.; Clifton, N.J.; Manchester, N.H.; Cambridge, Mass.; Fredericksburg, Va., and the three California cities of Monterey Park, San Jose and Fremont.

Delaware, again, took top honors in the United States for top speeds statewide. Residents of the Blue Hen State routinely have average Internet connection speeds in the neighborhood of 8 Mbps. New Hampshire (7.8 Mbps) and Rhode Island (7.7 Mbps) follow, with Vermont, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maryland all seeing average speeds in excess of 6.6 Mbps. California and Utah were the only states not on East Coast to break into the Top 10.

Alas, that all pales in comparison to South Korea, where average connection speeds remained at 17.5 Mbps. The United States? Its average connection speed came in at 5.8 Mbps, down 14 percent from a year ago. The global average was 2.3 Mbps.

For more:
- to get the full report from Akamai, click here (reg.)

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