U.S. is 15 Years Behind South Korea in Internet Speed

A surprising report on Internet speed in the U.S. finds the country isn’t likely to catch world leader South Korea for 15 years or longer. At current growth rates, the U.S. will only reach South Korea’s speed today in 15 years.

The report, by the Communications Workers of America, details Internet download and upload speeds all over the U.S. and some of its affiliated territories. In the last year, the average upload speed in the U.S. “barely changed,” the report noted, and download speed only grew a little, from 4.2 megabits per second in 2008 to 5.1 megabits per second in 2009.

In South Korea, average download speed is four times faster — 20.4 megabits per second. The U.S. also lags Japan (15.8 mbps), Sweden (12.8 mbps), the Netherlands (11 mbps) and 24 other countries.

At average U.S. speed, it takes about 35 minutes to download 100 family vacation photos, and four hours to upload them.

The report said U.S. speeds aren’t sufficient for the needs of in-home medical monitoring, distance learning programs or to run a modern business from home.

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

The report found Florida's average download speed was 5.8 megabits per second, ahead of the U.S., but significantly behind the aforementioned countries. The state's upload speed was 1.1 mbps.

The report calls for more investment in the nation’s Internet infrastructure. It also suggests shifting the outdated universal service payments that support voice telephone service over to pay for better and cheaper high-speed Internet service for everyone.

I can't help but agree with the report. We need faster Internet speed and better Internet infrastructure in this country.