Technology For You: Japan tops world broadband study

Only Japan has the broadband quality to cope with next-generation internet applications, a new study has revealed. Sweden and the Netherlands have Europe's best broadband, according to the 42-nation study sponsored by internet equipment maker Cisco Systems.

The UK, Spain and Italy fell just below the quality threshold for today's web. The study aims to highlight each nation's ability to cope with next-generation web applications such as high-quality video streaming. It was carried out by a team of MBA students from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford and the University of Oviedo's Department of Applied Economics.

They developed a "Broadband Quality Score" for each nation based on internet speed both downloading and uploading, the loss of packets of data and latency - a measure of the delays in information routing. The study focused on countries in Europe, North America, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Brazil, Russia, India and China (Brics).

Their research found that more than half of those countries had broadband connections good enough to deliver consistent quality for most common web applications today. Researchers put the success of Sweden and the Netherlands in Europe down to those countries' "increasing investments in fibre and cable network upgrades, coupled with competition diversity, and supported by strong government vision and policy". They said Japan's early commitment to investing in broadband made it the only country prepared to deliver the necessary quality for next-generation web applications over the next three to five years.
The study used nearly eight million records from broadband speed tests conducted by users around the world during May, 2008, through www.speedtest.net. Read More