APAC widens lead for average broadband speed

Asia-Pacific further increased its lead in the fourth quarter in terms of the average bandwidth of residential broadband services, as well as the best value for money in terms of cost per megabit, according to Point Topic.

The research firm said average bandwidth in the region jumped 28% year-on-year during the quarter to 419Mbps, well ahead of the global average of 118Mbps.

Globally, the average monthly cost for residential broadband services declined by $2 to $98. Costs have been decreasing for several quarters. In APAC by comparison, the average monthly cost is roughly $50.

The 118Mbps global average bandwidth provided to residential subscribers was up from 112Mbps in the previous quarter, in a result Point Topic attributes to the accelerated rollout of Docsis 3.1 cable networks capable of 1Gbps speeds.

The global average price per Mbps accordingly fell to $0.83 by the end of the Q4, from $0.89 at the end of the previous quarter. The average cost per Mbps of a copper connection reached $7.07, compared to $0.58 for cable and $0.45 for fiber.