India Sees 36 Percent Increase in Q4 2016 Average Internet Speed to 5.6Mbps: Akamai

Content delivery network services provider Akamai Technologies has published its State of the Internet report for Q4 2016. The report provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption metrics and notable Internet disruptions, among others. India's statistics are also detailed, and the country has seen a significant rise in average Internet connection speeds.

Akamai reports that in Q4 2016, the average Internet connection speed in India was 5.6Mbps, a rise of 36 percent quarter-on-quarter, and a whopping 99 percent year-on-year. This statistic gives it the country a global rank of 97. As for 4Mbps broadband adoption, 38 percent of Internet connections in India were found to be above 4Mbps, which was a 28 percent rise quarter-on-quarter, and a 123 percent rise year-on-year.

For 10Mbps adoption, 14 percent of Internet connections were found to be above that speed, a 116 percent rise quarter-on-quarter, and 418 percent rise year-on-year. Finally, for 15Mbps adoption, 7.3 percent of the connections were said to be above that speed, which is a 179 percent rise year-on-year

The report added that India and the Philippines once again had the lowest average connection speeds among surveyed Asia Pacific countries/regions.

"In more disappointing news, India's telecommunications regulator TRAI mandated that all wired broadband providers enable minimum download speeds of just 512Kbps, despite having previously recommended minimum speeds of 2 Mbps. However, there were positive developments in the country as well, as Bharti Airtel launched its V-Fiber broadband service in the fourth quarter, offering 100Mbps fixed broadband access. Initially rolling out in Chennai, Bharti's service was slated to become available to 87 cities in India within a few weeks," said David Belson, editor of the report.

Global average Internet connection speed has increased 12 percent to 7Mbps in the fourth quarter of 2016 - a 26 percent increase year-over-year. The global leader was South Korea, which once again had the highest average connection speed globally at 26.1Mbps in the fourth quarter.

"Internet connection speeds continued to show positive long-term trends around the world, with particularly strong year-over-year increases across all broadband adoption metrics," Belson clarified.

"When Akamai first published the report in 2008, we defined 'high broadband' as 5 Mbps and above, which nine years ago had an adoption rate of 16 per cent globally. We're now seeing a 15 Mbps adoption rate of 25 percent worldwide," Belson added.

Globally, 4Mbps, 10Mbps, 15Mbps, and 25Mbps broadband adoption rates increased 15 percent, 31 percent, 37 percent, and 45 percent year over year, respectively.

Written with inputs from IANS