The Ookla Speedtest Index has just been updated for 2022! This index tracks the highest speed internet connection by country and city, breaking it down by average for fixed broadband and mobile. This lets everyone get competitive about who’s getting the highest speed internet and who’s falling behind.
Sadly, Australia has fallen further behind, dropping to position 71 at an average internet speed of 54.26Mbps. On the cities list, Sydney and Melbourne placed 92 and 93, respectively, at 53.64 and 53.45Mbps, Perth…
Perth did not even appear on the list. Presumably, we’re not big enough to be featured in the top 100.
It’s sad to see, but these tests don’t mention the variety of factors that play into who has the highest speed internet. The two most important of those are population density and nation size.
Four of the top five, Chile, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, have dense, centralised population centres. This makes installing and updating infrastructure much more straightforward, which explains how the nation with the highest speed internet on average, Chile, can achieve an average speed of 217Mbps.
An honourable mention needs to be given to New Zealand, who managed to place 15th. New Zealand residents can enjoy speeds as high as 1,000Mbps up and down, even in residential installations. This is, again, mainly due to the small size and high population density of New Zealand, as well as the resources its government have poured into their infrastructure.
Conversely, upgrading Australia's ageing infrastructure is much more difficult due to the massive stretches of territory that require retrofitting to support sparse population density. Australian cities are far more spread out than most in their design and are situated enormous distances from one another.
Perth exists as the prime example of these difficulties. Not only are we the most remote state-capital city in the world, but we also have the longest sprawl at a whopping 123km. Though infrastructure is gradually being overhauled and modernised, it will take time for our average to reach that of the world’s top performers.
There is a ray of hope, however. As mentioned, these numbers represent the average these nations enjoy, and there is a notable exception to the average Australian internet. An internet connection that’s anything but average; in fact, it could even be called next level…
Pentanet! With plans available that reach up to 600Mbps or higher, Pentanet is the exception to the rule. If you want to reach next-level internet and enjoy the highest internet speeds, break the mould of Australia’s labouring infrastructure by checking out our Fixed Wireless, NBN, and other internet connection options for residential and business internet installations. See if one might suit your needs.
