Akamai Technologies released its Fourth Quarter, 2016 State of the Internet Report. Based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the report provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption metrics, notable Internet disruptions, IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation.

Here are some of the main points from the report: (Malaysia specific highlights below)

Global Average Connection Speeds and Global Broadband Adoption

• Global average connection speed increased 12% to 7.0 Mbps in the fourth quarter, a 26% increase year over year.
• South Korea again had the highest average connection speed globally at 26.1 Mbps in the fourth quarter.
• Global 4, 10, 15 and 25 Mbps broadband adoption rates increased 15%, 31%, 37% and 45% year over year, respectively.

IPv4 and IPv6

• In the fourth quarter of 2016, nearly 807 million unique IPv4 addresses connected to the Akamai Intelligent Platform, which is a 0.4% decrease as compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.
• There was significantly less IPv4 allocation/assignment activity in the fourth quarter, with 6.4 million addresses allocated/assigned versus 16 million in the third quarter.
• With 47% percent of its content requests to Akamai coming over IPv6, Belgium maintained its significant global lead in IPv6 adoption with a 20% quarter-over-quarter increase.

 Mobile

• Average mobile connection speeds ranged from a high of 26.8 Mbps in the United Kingdom to a low of 2.9 Mbps in Venezuela.
• Among the qualifying surveyed countries/regions, 30 had an average mobile connection speed at or exceeding the 10 Mbps broadband threshold (up from 24 in the previous quarter), while 58 achieved average speeds at or above the 4 Mbps broadband level (up from 52).

How does Malaysia fare?

The Malaysian government has been actively pushing initiatives to grow and position Malaysia as a global digital hub as well as develop a digital economy. Akamai’s report noted a 56% year-over-year growth in average connection speed in the country. In the long term, progress in the region is looking optimistic, with four of the top ten countries in the world for 10 Mbps broadband adoption found in the Asia Pacific region.

Malaysia specific highlights

• Malaysia enjoyed a 69% rate of 4 Mbps broadband adoption, a hike of 0.7% compared with the last quarter, and 25% in quarter-over-quarter gains in 10 Mbps Broadband Adoption (IPv4).
• Malaysia achieved a triple digit year-on-year jump of 786% in 15 Mbps Broadband Adoption (IPv4). This trend was noticed across the board in Asia Pacific – with eight countries more than doubling their adoption levels compared with the preceding year.
• The average connection speed for Malaysia was 8.2Mbps in the fourth quarter of 2016, showing a 56% year on year improvement.
• At 8.2Mbps, Malaysia’s connection speed is ahead of Sri Lanka (7.3), Indonesia (6.7), China (6.3), and India (5.6) Philippines (4.5).