Denmark has the best overall Internet service, but the US isn't far behind

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: BroadbandChoices in its latest Internet Accessibility Index report found Denmark to have the best overall Internet service based on metrics like download and upload speed, cost and mobile Internet coverage. The US ranked second, docked for comparatively slower speeds and higher pricing.

According to the report, the average download speed in Denmark is 69.4 Mbps. That’s not the highest average BroadbandChoices found (that honor belongs to Liechtenstein), but it is close. For comparison, the US – which ranked number two overall – has an average download speed of just 27.4 Mbps.

The disparity is even greater on the upload side, with Denmark boasting an average upload speed of 40.6 Mbps compared to just 9.0 Mbps in the US. The cost of connectivity is also lower in Denmark, where citizens pay an average of $47.80 per month compared to $62.40 in the US.

 

It’s sort of an apples to oranges comparison when you factor in population. Denmark as of 2020 had a population of around 5.8 million people versus nearly 330 million folks living in the US at the same time.

The one thing the US does have going for it is its number of Wi-Fi hotspots, which outnumbers those in Denmark by more than 402,000. Of course, given its much larger population, it works out to a very small advantage for the US - an average of about 811 people per hotspot in Denmark versus 806 people per in the US.

The situation isn’t ideal for those in the US, but it could be a whole lot worse. Several countries including Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Lebanon registered average download speeds less than 1 Mbps.

Image credit Pixabay

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/93746-denmark-has-best-overall-internet-service-but-us.html

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Average speed comparisons are largely pointless, it's what's available that matters.

 

[dirtyferret]

I for one am glad the Bahamas have great internet service. I was a little worried about all those multi-millionaires and billionaires on vacation and fearing they could not access their hidden off shore accounts before any government seizes them. I'm sure we can all sleep easy at night knowing that's not the case.

 

[psycros]

I for one am glad the Bahamas have great internet service. I was a little worried about all those multi-millionaires and billionaires on vacation and fearing they could not access their hidden off shore accounts before any government seizes them. I'm sure we can all sleep easy at night knowing that's not the case.

Gonna suck when WW3 starts, though...90% of everything there is imported.

 

[Axle Grease]

I'm pretty sure there's no ISP in New Zealand offering such a lousy price/performance ratio. Nobody here pays $90 ($61 USD) per month for 30Mbps download which is 0.33Mbps per NZD. New Zealand cities generally have very good internet. I get 9.5Mbps per NZD from my ISP.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I'm pretty sure there's no ISP in New Zealand offering such a lousy price/performance ratio. Nobody here pays $90 ($61 USD) per month for 30Mbps download which is 0.33Mbps per NZD. New Zealand cities generally have very good internet. I get 9.5Mbps per NZD from my ISP.

Just wondering it added in remote areas - saying that my Uncle/Aunt who live down a 20Km gravel road - nearly no houses - hills, fords to cross ,- already off a place no one knows - got fibre really early . Not sure of Elon's rural internet .
Other thing - is everyone who wants unlimited - get that for the quoted price .
USA figures as a total are also suspect . Some people on google , some on one monopoly predatory ISP .
In NZ can't exactly say 100% ownership - however think Govt/Local Councils own the fibre network - This means any ISP can access it .

interesting South Korea not on list - I thought they have superfast internet .

So I think competition column should be added

 

[CBTex]

I'm pretty sure there's no ISP in New Zealand offering such a lousy price/performance ratio. Nobody here pays $90 ($61 USD) per month for 30Mbps download which is 0.33Mbps per NZD. New Zealand cities generally have very good internet. I get 9.5Mbps per NZD from my ISP.

Comparing the US to New Zealand in this way doesn't make sense. New Zealand is about the size of Colorado. The US has vast areas of very low population density that affect the numbers. In my town, which isn't big, I have 250 Mbps, and could get 1 Gbps. There are place in the US that only have access to satellite internet.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

An average is a terrible metric because some Americans have 2,000 mbps while others have 3.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Yemen download speeds wouldn’t be so low if we forced Saudi Arabia to finally end their decade long war on it.

Strange that we haven't banned Saudi oil after their unprovoked invasion...

 

[Axle Grease]

Comparing the US to New Zealand in this way doesn't make sense. New Zealand is about the size of Colorado. The US has vast areas of very low population density that affect the numbers. In my town, which isn't big, I have 250 Mbps, and could get 1 Gbps. There are place in the US that only have access to satellite internet.

Wot? I was not comparing NZ to US. I'm saying the figures in that chart for NZ don't represent what people here actually get. Internet speeds are very good. The only (big) negative if one likes online gaming is the geographical location. We're far away from the bulk of the online gaming community. If it were not for Australia I'd be playing only single player games.

 

[GamerNerves]

Overly simplified.

 

[amghwk]

That report link is more than one year old.

Anyway, 1GBps in Thailand is about 900+ Baht - about USD30+. In neighbouring Malaysia, 800MBps is about RM286 - about USD 68+ for these speeds.

 

[havok585]

Pretty skewed and really bad report I must say, I've seen from another source (that is more realistic) where the average speed + price of affordability had the top 3 countries South Korea, Romania and Japan as best overall, but I dont see them on the first 3 positions on this list.

 

[Fastturtle]

An average is a terrible metric because some Americans have 2,000 mbps while others have 3.

Don't forget the poor sods still on 33.3 dialup through AOL. Yes they're still available and for some rural folks, it's the only thing available

 

[Axeia]

Pretty skewed and really bad report I must say, I've seen from another source (that is more realistic) where the average speed + price of affordability had the top 3 countries South Korea, Romania and Japan as best overall, but I dont see them on the first 3 positions on this list.

Indeed, the usual winners are not there but we have the UK where ADSL2 is the norm, cable if you're lucky and ftth is super rare in position 4. This whilst the Netherlands is down at 18 while cable internet is the norm and a good chunk of the country has access to ftth.

As someone who moved from a small town in the Netherlands where I could pick between ADSL2, cable and ftth to the UK (Manchester) where the only option is ADSL2 I question this list. Paying the same for a 76/20 line (or thereabouts, don't remember the exact numbers) as I used to get 100/100 for. Not to mention that was the slowest I could get on ftth in the Netherlands, there was an option for 500/500 as well as 1Gb. The 76/20 I have now is the fastest I can get in the UK at my address. Cable (Virgin media) isn't available although it might be in a few months and it looks ftth isn't going to be an option within at least the next 5 years.
I'm not even sure why they still even bother putting copper in the ground, if you're going to put something down make it glass fibre which is the best you can get instead of some outdated cable other countries had national coverage with decades ago.
The costs of the cable and the network equipment should be rather minimal compared to the cost of laying down cables so I can't imagine it's massively cost saving either.

Hell every country every time they do any kind of road maintenance etc should grab the opportunity and put down either glass fibre or some tubes they can route then through easily in the future

 

[nnguy2]

The number of wifi Hotspots should be normalized to Hotspots per 100,000 to give a better comparison.

 

[Edster]

Comparing the US to New Zealand in this way doesn't make sense. New Zealand is about the size of Colorado. The US has vast areas of very low population density that affect the numbers. In my town, which isn't big, I have 250 Mbps, and could get 1 Gbps. There are place in the US that only have access to satellite internet.

Perhaps is not the best example as the density is 55/sq mi (21/km2) for Colorado vs 49.5/sq mi (19.1/km2) Auckland. New Zealand has greater population centered in the major center that is skewed due to North Island, the smaller island, having far greater population so there are large areas of little to no population.

Underestimating the size of New Zealand is. I mean, it is bigger than the United Kingdom, which is kinda mind boggling.

 

[lripplinger]

Not really sure this table of "average" internet speeds by country is useful. There are numerous factors at play when talking about internet access and the quality of it. For example, places like Tajikistan don't have internet per se. They "import" internet from neighboring countries, for very high prices. Here in the United States, internet varies all over the place. There are regions of the country that only have access to satellite internet still. Even urban areas can have absolute garbage internet, because the ISP's charge tons of money, but don't improve the infrastructure. That, and politics also often get in the way. I live out here in very rural WY, and yet I have 200/200 fiber optic internet. It really varies where you go.