subject: Broadband Study Reveals Italy's Slow Internet Connection Speeds [print this page] Pando Networks, the US-based content delivery network provider, has conducted an extensive study of broadband speeds in multiple geographic locations. Tracking download speeds for 6 months in the first half of 2011, the company has recorded and charted over 4 million download completions from most countries across the globe, including Italy.
The study has shown that the world's average download speed is 580KBps. This varies wildly across countries though - the top spot is claimed by South Korea at 2,202KBps, while Congo manages only 13KBps at the bottom of the table. In fact, the fastest speeds are recorded in Asian and Eastern European countries. The top 10 ten list features South Korea, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Japan, Sweden, Ukraine, Denmark and Hong Kong.
Countries with developed eCommerce industry, such as the United States and Britain, achieve quite average 616KBps and 599KBps respectively. Another country that should've done well is Finland, which famously made broadband access a human right in 2011. It achieves a respectable 917KBps that is nonetheless still outside the top 10.
Italy scores a download speed of just 336KBps, almost half of the world's average, and closer to China's 245KBps than neighbouring France's 604KBps. Italy is also slowest amongst its neighbours, lagging behind Austria, Germany, Croatia and Switzerland. This poor result has the potential to slow down online retail as usability studies have shown a clear link between Internet connection speed and customer sales.
Italian eCommerce busiensses tend to agree about the implications. Sergio Anna, owner of online gifts and gadgets retailer, comments "Slow loading times can frustrate website visitors and have the potential to drive them away. We optimise our web store continually to make it as fast as possible, but we depend on the Internet infrastructure available to users."
Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, explains the survey's results: "The disparities we found are striking. Big names such as the US, UK, France, China and Canada were not even close to being the fastest. Instead, we saw high speeds in markets such as Eastern Europe where focus on infrastructural development and favourable geography promote a higher level of connectivity."
Broadband connection speed varies not only from country to country, but also at a city level. More affluent areas within Italy such as Rome and Milan can reach double the speed of poorer rural areas. Find out more details from the survey by visiting Pando Network's official website.
