WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States ranks 28th in the world in average Internet connection speed and is not making significant progress in building a faster network, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said the average download speed in South Korea is 20.4 megabits per second (mbps) -- four times faster than the US average of 5.1 mbps.

Japan trails South Korea with an average of 15.8 mbps followed by Sweden at 12.8 mbps and the Netherlands at 11.0 mbps, the report said.

It said tests conducted by speedmatters.org found the average US download speed had improved by only nine-tenths of a megabit per second between 2008 and 2009 -- from 4.2 mbps to 5.1 mbps.

"The US has not made significant improvement in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet," the report said. "Our nation continues to fall far behind other countries."

"People in Japan can upload a high-definition video in 12 minutes, compared to a grueling 2.5 hours at the US average upload speed," the report said.

It said 18 percent of those who took a US speed test recorded download speeds that were slower than 768 kilobits per second, which does not even qualify as basic broadband, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Sixty-four percent connected at up to 10 mbps, 19 percent connected at speeds greater than 10 mbps and two percent exceeded 25 mbps.

The United States was ranked 20th in broadband penetration in a survey of 58 countries released earlier this year by Boston-based Strategy Analytics.

South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark and Taiwan were the top five countries listed in terms of access to high-speed Internet.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to put broadband in every home and the FCC has embarked on an ambitious project to bring high-speed Internet access to every corner of the United States.

According to the CWA report, the fastest download speeds in the United States are in the northeastern parts of the country while the slowest are in states such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090825/tc_afp/ustelecombroadbanditinternet_20090825230334

you think that's bad, try living in the UK, internet speeds here are diabolically slow

Barack has a stupid goal to put broadband in "every home". If he really means that we will be paying thousands for people living out in the boonies to have essentially a luxury item. I can understand concern about phone, electrical, road, or water infrastructure, but broadband internet is purely a luxury item for average home consumers. To top it off, a lot consumers don't even need broadband as all they do is surf the web and don't even bother to use online video. If it wasn't for the fact that I use Vonage and online TV I would drop broadband right away.

Considering the sheer size of the US, I don't see why people like to compare our infrastructure to much smaller countries that can more easily install new lines across the entire country. I mean should we really be shocked that Alaska has a horrible broadband infrastructure?

It just show's there is progress needed, but the problems in increasing that speed is some big problems that you would need to overcome esp. in the size of the US , and those problems are going to persist for quite some time.

I don't think size has anything to do with it... Just imagine the US is divided in states (well, it actually is :P)

i do not think it's a stupid idea in the sense that to say investing into a enhanced 3G or4G networks expanding its speed say for example: NETBOOKS BEING ABLE TO USE 3G it would help put more broadband in to everyhome. AS for being able to do it .well that's a story in of itself.

The U.S. is a meld of urban and rural. Comparing it to Japan and South Korea (which are almost ultimately urban) isn't very fair towards the U.S.

I wish I lived in Korea where Dial-up is considered to be anything under 100Mbps

Those countries mentioned are far smaller than the U.S., with smaller populations.

Considering the United States is one of the largest countries geographically speaking, I think we're doing ok.

Though the max 7mbps in my area is disappointing.... And I only connect at 1.5mbps....