According to Akamai's quarterly "State of the Internet" report, Australia's average Internet speed is now at 4.7 Mbps. The connection speed is up by 2.1 per cent from the last quarter of 2012. On a global scale, the connection speed rose to an average of 3.1 Mbps or a 4 per cent increase.

At peak Internet speeds, Australia has averaged 26.3 Mbps, an increase of 9.3 per cent. Global average of peak Internet speeds is at 18.4 Mbps.

While the increase in speed may seem incremental when data is compared quarter-on-quarter, the figures still represent a significant improvement on a yearly basis. The average connection is up by 31 per cent from the first quarter of 2012. The average peak speed rose to 58 per cent during the same period.

Australia's Internet speed might not be as impressive when compared with other nations in the world in terms of ranking. Australia ranks 41st in the world in connection speed, while the average peak speed puts the nation at 37th place in global rankings.

The fastest Internet connection belongs to South Korea with an average of 14.2 Mbps. The highest peak speed recorded is in Hong Kong at 63.6 Mbps.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the average connection speed of Australia was higher than the current 4.7 Mbps-5.5 Mbps. The average peak speed in the same year was at 30 Mbps.

Akamai, a content delivery company, also revealed in its report that 4.8 of Australians have access to Internet speeds of 10 Mbps or above. This is an increase from the last quarter by 0.8 per cent.

While Australia does not exactly belong to the bottom of the list of world rankings for Internet speeds, it is clear that the country still lags behind other developed countries in terms of broadband access and speed.

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