A report from Akamai, the network giant, shows the state of Internet use around the world. The data, which analyzed huge amounts of traffic on the Web, claims that the average global Internet speed is only 1.7mbps (megabits per second).

In spite of the worldwide average, some countries have developed more rapid services. South Korea, which tops the world in terms of average net speed and houses the fastest broadband city in Masan, is perceived to have faster broadband than the rest of the world. However, the average Internet speed in the country is a relatively slow 12Mbps, with the average maximum at 33Mbps.

"100Mbps is available in South Korea but it is often at prices that are not affordable by the general public. It can cost several hundred dollars a month," said David Belson, Akamai's head of market intelligence.

The findings also presented a look at mobile networks as demand for data on the move increases. The study finds that out of 109 mobile providers, 83 offered speeds greater than 2Mbps. There were also 33 providers that reached greater than 5Mbps and six went over 10Mbps. The mobile average varied from 105Kbps to 7.2Mbps. Both of the extremes can be found with providers in Slovakia.

Asia had the most number of wired cities in the list of the world's fastest. More than half of the list's top 100 cities can be found in Japan. Only 12 cities from the US were listed. All the cities in the top 20 can be located in either Japan or South Korea. The only exception is Umea, Sweden, which was 18th in the list.

European cities that made the top 100 include Baden-Baden in Germany, Wageningen in the Netherlands and Timisoara in Romania.

Average net speed by region

South Korea 12Mbps

Hong Kong 9Mbps

Japan 7.8Mbps

Romania 6.3Mbps

Latvia 6.3Mbps

Sweden 6.1Mbps

Netherlands 5.9Mbps

Czech Republic 5.4Mbps

Denmark 5.3Mbps

Switzerland 5.2Mbps