Ookla 2017 report: global internet speeds are up 30% YoY, as average download speeds for broadband and mobile reach 40 Mbps and 20 Mbps respectively
Here are the countries with the fastest internet. — Internet download speeds grew more than 30 percent this year for both wireline …
Context & Ripple Effects
Ookla's global numbers cap a two-year acceleration. Akamai's trackers showed the world crawling: a 14% global speed gain to just 5.1 Mbps in 2015, with only 5.2% of users on broadband-grade connections. By late 2017, Ookla's US data already pointed the same direction, with US mobile downloads up 19% YoY and T-Mobile and Comcast Xfinity leading their categories.
The 30% global jump — 40 Mbps broadband, 20 Mbps mobile — matters because it is the first worldwide confirmation that the US speed surge is a network-wide buildout, not a local anomaly, and it sets the baseline the later Ookla reports keep beating: US broadband up another 35.8% in 2018 and mobile at 33.88 Mbps by 2019.
First-order effects
- Consumers in the fastest countries get headroom for higher-bitrate streaming and multi-device households as a default, while Ookla's country and carrier rankings become an annual scorecard ISPs like Xfinity, Verizon, and T-Mobile are measured against.
Second-order effects
- Carriers and ISPs are pushed into a speed-arms-race dynamic where each Ookla cycle resets the marketing benchmark, and the 2019 data showing mobile uploads stuck near 9.75 Mbps shows where the next competitive gap opens once downloads saturate.
Third-order effects
- If 30%+ annual gains hold, the definition of 'broadband' keeps ratcheting upward — the 5.1 Mbps global average of 2015 is already obsolete — pressuring regulators and providers in lagging countries to fund catch-up buildouts or fall permanently behind the leaders.
The trend: Annual Ookla and Akamai speed reports are turning raw network throughput into a recurring global competitive benchmark, with each year's gains resetting expectations for the next.