U.S. web access slower than in many other countries

Steve Safran June 26th, 2007

USA Today lists the results of a survey done by the Communications Workers of America that claims the median download speed from the web here in the U.S. is downright pokey compared to other countries. The report found the median download speed here in the U.S. to be about 2 megabits per second. That’s a lot faster than it used to be, but still far slower than Japan’s 61 Mbps, South Korea’s 45 Mbps, France’s 17 Mbps and Canada’s 7 Mbps. The report also breaks out state-by-state median download speeds. Fastest state: Rhode Island (5 Mbps.) Slowest state: Alaska (0.5 Mbps.) (The Communications Workers of America, which commissioned the survey, has an interest in the outcome of the story. They represent workers at tech and telecom companies who could benefit from work projects to increase bandwidth.)