The U.S. ranks 28th in the world in mobile internet speeds

The U.S. lags behind much of the rest of the developed world in mobile internet speeds, ranking 28th.

The U.K. has the fastest mobile speeds, with an average of 26 megabits per second, according to the latest State of the Internet Report by content delivery company Akamai. Among the 62 countries Akamai measured, the U.S. isn’t even in the Top 25, at 10.7 Mbps. (The U.S. ranks 10th in the world for average wireline internet speed.)

Measuring mobile internet speeds is increasingly more important as mobile takes up a bigger share of our overall internet usage and as people increasingly use phones as their main source of internet.

And as anyone with a smartphone knows, 4G LTE is only 4G LTE in some places. As an especially large country, coverage levels vary significantly in the U.S., even within the same city — not to mention rural areas where the network options are further limited.

U.S. telecoms are in the process of rolling out newer, faster networks, so the speed will improve. But don’t get too excited. Network technologies like 5G are still in testing.

While fixed internet is speedier than mobile in general, some countries have chosen to prioritize mobile. Several countries in Asia and Africa that had lagged the rest of the world on fixed internet infrastructure focused on building out mobile infrastructure instead. Kenya, for example, now has the 14th-fastest average mobile internet speed — and it’s faster than the country’s average wireline speed.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via