U.S. Internet Speeds May Not Keep Up With The Cloud

Cloud computing had better pay attention to the state of the Internet especially as it relates to speed. As the cloud expands so too will the demand for bandwidth and it is becoming more apparent that if you are in Asia the cloud will be more accessible to you than if you are in the U.S., based on my analysis of Akamai’s Second Quarter 2010 State of the Internet Report.

Here are the results of the report that highlight the developing disparities. Masan, South Korea held the title as the city with the fastest average connection speed. Masan’s average speed increased by more than 5 Mbps quarter-over-quarter, making it the only city in the world with an average connection speed higher than 20 Mbps.

Meanwhile, back in the apparently technologically challenged U.S. only eight cities made the top 100 list, with Monterey Park, CA as the fastest U.S. city (#76 out of 100), ahead of Riverside, CA; Union, NJ; and Oakland, CA. The average connection speed across the U.S. was 4.6 Mbps. The other four countries with the fastest global average connection speed are Hong Kong, Japan, Romania, and The Netherlands.

Cloud proponents may be quick to point out confidently that our telecommunications industry will keep up as it needs to, but we have seen scant evidence of that. Consider the billions in Universal Service Charges the phone companies have received from customers and/or paid into the fund over the years. According to Thomas W. Hazlett, professor of law & economics and director, Information Economy Project, George Mason University; and senior advisor to the Analysis Group in his 2006 paper entitled, “Universal Service Telephone Subsidies: What Does $7 Billion Buy?”

“…benefits are largely distributed to shareholders of rural telephone companies, not consumers, and fail – on net – to extend network access. Rather, the incentives created by these subsidies encourage widespread inefficiency and block adoption of advanced technologies – such as wireless, satellite, and Internet-based services – that could provide superior voice and data links at a fraction of the cost of traditional fixed-line networks.”

Of course security is another key element in delivering cloud solutions but in this latest report the U.S. ranked first as a source of attack traffic (11%), followed by China and Russia, in that order, and accounting for 20 percent combined.

When it comes to mobile connectivity you don’t want to be in certain places in Slovakia where you might be lucky to connect at 115 Kbps. Slovakia interestingly though also had the fastest mobile speed of 6.1 Mbps.