July 23, 2018 Luxembourg is one of world's internet speed champs
Country now ranks 8th out of 200 states surveyed for broadband speed
A study by M-Lab lists Luxembourg number eight among the countries with the highest internet speed in the world, behind Singapore, Sweden and Denmark.
This year's Worldwide Broadband Speed League survey is based on over 163 million speed tests carried out in 200 countries over twelve months leading up to 29 May 2018.
Big speed jump
According to M-Lab, Luxembourg recorded an average download speed of 35.14 Mbps, a slow figure compared to Singapore's 60.39 Mbps.
Furthermore, it takes 19 minutes in the Grand-Duchy to download a typical HD Movie (5 Gb), compared to 11 minutes in Singapore.
While Luxembourg ranked 33rd in the previous survey conducted by M-Lab, between June 2016 and May 2017, its recent rise to the top has been driven by the development of high-speed internet infrastructure across the country.
Luxembourg's new ranking also reflects the progress it has made in implementing various initiatives as part of the Rifkin strategy/third industrial revolution.
In June 2017, the ILR (Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation) found that more than 50,000 people have broadband connectivity, an increase of 19,300 compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, earlier this year, the Luxembourg regulator released a free application measuring the quality and speed of internet access in the Grand Duchy.
Widening gap
When it comes to internet provision, the situation varies across countries. "Generally speaking though, you can apply the rule that the larger and less developed the nation is, the slower the internet access tends to be," M-Lab said.
According to the survey, the global average broadband speed rose by 23%, from 7.40 Mbps last period to 9.10 Mbps currently.
However, the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening. According to the study, the top 100 countries in the table have gained 5.43 Mbps while the bottom 100 have gained on average only 0.41 Mbps.
UK slips further
Europe has the world’s highest concentration of countries with fast or very fast broadband, with 36 countries featured among the top 50. According to the the survey, while the UK ranked 31st last year, in 2018 it came only 35th.
"With the UK only just beginning to roll out FTTP (fibre to the premises), and with a number of other European countries already a long way ahead of the UK in this regard, it is likely it will slip more positions when we will take these measurements next year, and that those ahead of the UK will increase their lead," M-Lab predicts.
M-Lab is a partnership between New America's Open Technology Institute, Google Open Source Research, Princeton University's PlanetLab and other supporting partners. Data has been compiled by Cable.
11 countries have been excluded from the data collection: Bhutan, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Eritrea, Greenland, Lesotho, North Korea, Solomon Islands, Somalia and South Sudan.
Marc Auxenfants
https://luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/34493-luxembourg-is-one-of-world-s-internet-speed-champs