US ranks 25th in the world for Internet connection speed

The U.S. ranks 25th in the world in average Internet connection speeds, and nearly half of all U.S. residents' Internet connections fall below the Federal Communications Commission's minimum definition of broadband, at 4 megabits per second download, according to a new report.

The median download speed in the U.S. in 2010 is 3 mbps, a slight increase from 2009, according to the report, released Wednesday by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and sister organization Speedmatters.org. South Korea's average download speed is 34.1 mbps, Sweden's is 22.2 mbps, Romania's is 20.3 mbps, and Japan's is 18 mbps, according to the report.