CDN Featured Article

The Internet has come a long way in its somewhat brief history. From the days of AOL (News - Alert) dial-up to today’s digital lifestyle, the Internet of Things IoT) and the cloud-based, software defined SaaSy reality in which we live is quite a journey. With innovation in the world’s largest network came expansion, and where we stand today is a world where the need for speed is quite real. But it’s not just about speed, lest we forget to add reliability and overall performance – the network demand is greater than at any other point in history.

Every fiscal quarter, Akamai (News - Alert) releases its State of the Internet Report and the Q2 2016 highlighted some intriguing results. The research utilized the Akamai Intelligent platform to compile key statistics such as notable Internet disruptions, broadband adoption metrics, connection speeds as well as IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation.

Let’s tackle a few key takeaways, shall we?

While there’s been a 14 percent increase year over year, the global average connection speed dipped by 2.3 percent to 6.1 Mbps from Q1 2016. In addition, the global average peak connection speed grew at a rate of nearly 4 percent from Q1 to 36 Mbps, which also represents year over year growth to the tune of 2.5 percent. Interestingly enough, 15 Mbps and 25 Mbps broadband adoption rates dipped, but global 10 Mbps grew nearly a percent quarter over quarter.

The Akamai Intelligent Platform discovered that the number of IPv4 addresses dropped 1 percent from Q1 numbers, with Belgium leading the world in IPv6 connections. Some 38 percent of Belgium’s connections are IPv6 representing more than 5 percent growth from Q1.

An area of focus, mobile connection speeds were all over the map – literally. The fastest mobile connection speeds were found in the United Kingdom at 23.1 Mbps, with Venezuela bringing up the rear at only 2.2 Mbps.

It’s clear the Internet is still in a “growth phase,” as we have yet to see the true effect the IoT will offer. In addition, SaaS (News - Alert) applications are exploding in adoption, but this appears to be the tip of the iceberg as software-defined solutions and the cloud possess a ferocious appetite for bandwidth and overall performance.

We’ve come a long way, with many more miles yet to go.