Newsflash! Aussie ‘net speeds still slow, country ranks behind Kenya

By Sharmishta Sarkar
published

Still lagging, despite ongoing NBN rollout

In January this year we reported that Australia ranked 50th in the world for ‘net speeds during the third quarter of 2016.

The latest State of the Internet Report from American web company Akamai for the first quarter of 2017 sadly hasn’t seen any change in Australia’s rankings. Despite making some headway in average download speeds, our island nation is still languishing in 50th place.

Slow and steady?

According to the report, the average connection speed in Australia is now 11.4Mbps, a quarter-on-quarter rise of 9.6%. Last year, we only hit 9.4Mbps. 

And despite 2.2 million paying customers currently using the NBN’s optical-fibre infrastructure, the average peak NBN connection speed is only 55.7Mbps, dropping us down to number 64 on the global rankings in that category.

Our neighbours across the Tasman Sea, however, have fared a little better. The average connection speed in New Zealand is 14.7Mbps – a 40% rise since last year – which bumps them up to a ranking of 27th in the world from last year’s 40th.

Heck, even Kenya has put Australia to shame, ranking 43rd in the world for average internet speeds at 12.2Mbps.

For the 19 million Australians who still don’t have access to the NBN, that rollout can’t come soon enough.

Sharmishta Sarkar
Sharmishta Sarkar
Managing Editor (APAC)

Sharmishta is TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor and loves all things photography, something she discovered while chasing monkeys in the wilds of India (she studied to be a primatologist but has since left monkey business behind). While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, she's also an avid reader and has become a passionate proponent of ereaders, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about the convenience of these underrated devices. When she's not testing camera kits or the latest in e-paper tablets, she's discovering the joys and foibles of smart home gizmos. She's also the Australian Managing Editor of Digital Camera World and, if that wasn't enough, she contributes to T3 and Tom's Guide, while also working on two of Future's photography print magazines Down Under.

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