Content producing countries' Internet speed lags behind technology producers

Rich Fiscus
21 Sep 2011 11:57

According to a report from content delivery company Pando Networks, South Korea has the fastest Internet speeds in the world with an average download speed of over 17 Megabits per second.
By comparison, German speeds were barely above 5Mbps, which was still better than the US or UK. Those countries had average speeds of 4.93Mbps and 4.79Mbps respectively.

The report is based on data collected on downloads from Pando's content delivery network during the first half of 2011.
Northern European countries were well represented in the top 15, including Sweden (7^th), Denmark (9^th), Netherlands (11^th), Finland (12^th) & Norway (15^th).

Looking at the speed data overlaid on a map, one thing that stands out is how slow Internet speeds are in developed countries with strong content production industries.

On the other end of the spectrum, countries where tech industries dominate the economy, including South Korea and Finland, tend to also have relatively fast Internet service. Japan is something of an outlier, likely reflecting the fact they are representative of both categories.

Perhaps more important than the content production itself, there seems to be a correlation between poor Internet infrastructure and content producers pushing for draconian laws to limit new technology in the name of preserving aging business models.

Is it any surprise it's difficult to make money from online content when your core customers have Internet connections which are poorly suited to consuming your product?