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Connected Government, Digital Inclusion

The world’s speediest e-city: Masan, Korea

By Robin Hicks | 23 November 2010

The city of Masan in South Korea is home to the world’s fastest internet speeds. High-speed fibre-to-home connections in densely populated living areas and wireless zones in public places have helped achieved average web speeds of 15,839 Kbps.

The city of 429,000 people in South Gyeongsang Province ranked top of a list of the top 100 cities with the fastest average connection speeds by Akamai, a content delivery firm that serves 20 per cent of web traffic globally.

“A competitive environment for telco providers has led to investment in infrastructure in areas previously underserved by the internet. This process is ongoing,” A Masan city spokesman, told FutureGov.

Large providers such as Korea Telecom are introducing high speed internet connectivity to large apartment blocks, and enabling ubiquitous connectivity for the city’s smart phone users by rolling out a network of wireless hotspots.

A government scheme to encourage investment in infrastructure and fast-track development projects has also helped drive up web speeds, said the Masan representative.

The next six cities in Akamai’s list are also Korean - Poryong, Kimchon, Taegu, Milyang, Seocho and Ilsan. The next two are Japanese (Usen, Tokai). In tenth spot is Seoul, with an average connection speed of 11,861 Kbps.

The highest ranking city in the United States is Monterey Park, California, with an average connection speed of 7272 Kbps. It ranks 66th in the table.

The speed of Korea’s cities owes to the setting up of a cross-country Wibro (Korea’s wide-broadband WI-FI service) network, and a wide-band super-information highway.

However, the Masan spokesman noted that there was room for improvement, particularly in modernising wireless infrastructure, which would be best pursued through further public-private collaboration.

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