The Internet is changing the way people would define the basic necessities of life. Nowadays, private individuals and large businesses depend on the Internet for keeping connected with people from any part of the world.
Understanding that there's a growing demand on Internet service, a number of Internet service providers have mushroomed in the U.S. Each would offer customized plans and services designed to cater to every customer's need. One of the things that's been highly prioritized is the speed.
Internet speed is almost always the first thing that's compromised when major providers would intentionally throttle speed and concerned individuals would openly debate on net neutrality.
In the U.S., Internet speed varies in every state. One state has managed to stand out with the highest average internet speed recorded.
Among all the states and territories in the U.S., it is Virginia that tops the list. With an average Internet speed of 13.7 megabits per second, Virginia becomes the state with the speediest Internet access.
The information is based on the recent annual State of the Internet report by Akamai, a cloud services provider. Its clients would include some of the world's largest corporations.
In order to have a visual representation, Broadview Networks, another cloud services provider, produced a map by pulling the state by state data from the report.
The top 10 states, ranked according to Internet speed in megabits are: 1. Virginia (13.7); 2. Delaware (13.1); 3. Massachusetts (13.1); 4. Rhode Island (12.9); 5. District of Columbia (12.8); 6. Washington (12.5); 7. New Hampshire (12.3); 8. Utah (12.1); 9. Michigan (11.8); and 10. Connecticut (11.7).
Virginia's average speed covers more than half of South Korea's average speed of 23.6 mbps. The average speed in the U.S. is 10.5 mbps. If Virginia ranks first, it is Alaska that ranks as having the slowest Internet speed which is recorded at 7.0 mbps.
The demand for a faster and more reliable Internet speed has caused major service providers to consistently enhance their services in order to keep their current subscribers and to attract new customers as well. Almost every state has experienced a steady improvement. It was only Vermont that had slower speeds in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.
At least 26 states have average speeds that are higher than 10 mbps which is Akamai's cut off criterion for "high broadband." Moreover, all states are placed above the "low broadband" cutoff of 4mbps. Kansas is named as the most-improved state which is something true year after year. It saw an increase of 91% in average speed. Other states that showed an increased speed include Arkansas and Idaho (60%) and Maryland and Georgia (50%).
