Taipei, June 7 (CNA) The average Internet connection speed in Taiwan in the first quarter of the year was measured at 16.9 megabits per second (Mbps), the 16th fastest in the world and fifth fastest in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a quarterly report on global internet speeds.
Taiwan's average connection speed of 16.9 Mbps was a 7.9 percent increase from 15.6 Mbps in the fourth quarter of 2016 and a 14 percent leap from Q1 of 2016, according to the State of the Internet report put out by content delivery network Akamai on May 31.
South Korea remained at the top of the rankings with an average connection speed of 28.6 Mbps, followed by Norway (23.5 Mbps), Sweden (22.5 Mbps), Hong Kong (21.9 Mbps) and Switzerland (21.7 Mbps).
Rounding out the top 10 were Finland with an average speed of 20.5 Mbps, and Singapore, Japan, Denmark and the United States.
The report compiled by Akamai Intelligent Platform included data on average connection speeds, average peak connection speeds, broadband adoption rates and mobile connectivity, the company said.
It showed that the global average connection speed rose 15 percent year-on-year to 7.2 Mbps in Q1 2017.
"Increases in connection speeds and broadband penetration have helped enable the Internet to support levels of traffic that even just a few years ago would have been unimaginable," said David Belson, editor of the report.
In terms of average peak connection speeds, Taiwan ranked 13th in the world with 94.7 Mbps, a 14 percent jump from Q1 of 2016, according to the report.
The top five in that category were Singapore (184.5 Mbps), Macao (132.0 Mbps), Mongolia (131.1 Mbps), Hong Kong (129.5 Mbps) and South Korea (121.0 Mbps).
They were followed by Jersey in the Channel Islands (108.4 Mbps), and Qatar, Thailand, Israel and Sweden (95.3 Mbps).
