May 25, 2010
Perhaps only geeks will find this interesting, but it’s worth noting nonetheless: Latvia has the second-fastest broadband download speeds in the world, according to the U.S.-based diagnostics company Ookla.
Ookla runs Speedtest.net, a service that allows consumers to test the speed of their Internet connections. Tests run during the past 30 days, Speedtest.net reported May 24, show that consumers in South Korea have the fastest download speeds, while Latvia ranks No. 2.
South Koreans on average experience a download speed of 34.14 Mbps (megabits per second), while Latvians get 24.29 Mbps.
The rest of the Top 10 includes Moldova, Japan, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal.
Estonia came in No. 19. The United States is 26th and Russia is 28th.
On a city-by-city basis, Speedtest.net found the Seoul ranked No. 1 with an average download speed of 34.66 Mbps. Rīga ranked No. 2 with a speed of 27.90 Mbps. Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, ranked No. 10 with a speed of 17.48 Mbps.
Upload tests showed South Korea at No. 1 and Latvia at No. 2. Lithuania ranked No. 4 and Russia was No. 10.
However, when comparing the quality of broadband connections, a different picture emerges. In that index, Romania ranks No. 1, Russia is No. 2 and Portugal is No. 3. The United States ranks ninth.
At least 10,000 “packet tests” had to have been run for countries to be listed in the Top Ten rankings.
Andris Straumanis is editor of Latvians Online.
