Global broadband snapshot: Hong Kong throttles the rest of the world

Anyone who thinks their Verizon fiber connection is fast ought to spend a week hanging out in East Asia.

According to an informal survey of advertised global broadband speeds conducted by IDG publications around the world (IDG publishes Network World), East Asian countries boast some of the fastest advertised connections around, with four countries featuring at least one carrier claiming average download speeds of 100Mbps or higher. The leader of the pack is Hong Kong, with advertised broadband download speeds of a whopping 300Mbps and 300Mbps upload speeds to match. Other East Asia countries in the 100Mbps download club include Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, all of which have at least one ISP advertising those rates. Other countries that have ISPs advertising 100Mbps or higher speeds are Poland, Germany and Canada. What's even more impressive than some of the advertised speeds in many of the 100Mbps+ countries is the service prices. Hong Kong's 300Mbps service, for instance, costs just $40 a month and includes television service. Taiwan's 100Mbps service, meanwhile, costs $24 a month, while South Korea's costs $31 a month. In the United States, by contrast, 25Mbps Internet access will run you about $75 per month and doesn't include television.