KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Malaysia’s average Internet connection speed is the 10th fastest in the Asia Pacific, says international content delivery network service provider, Akamai.

According to Akamai’s First Quarter 2017 State of the Internet Report, Malaysia has an average connection speed of 8.9 Megabits per second (Mbps), a 9.1 per cent increase from last quarter and a 40 per cent improvement from the first quarter of last year.

"Malaysia’s 10 Mbps Broadband Adoption has also increased, recording a 17 per cent quarter-on-quarter change and a 179 per cent year-on-year improvement,” it said in a statement today.

It said recent advancements in the Malaysian telecom space, including the introduction of 5G and 4.5G network, had given a strong impetus to digital adoption in the country.

"Malaysia has a growing millennial population of young, tech-savvy consumers with substantial purchasing power.

"Historically, this demographic has always been the early adopters of new technology, and factors such as the growth of smartphone adoption and affordable data plans, stand in Malaysia’s favour towards driving an Internet economy,” it added.

Regionally, the report said South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore had an average peak connection speed of above 100 Mbps, while 12 of the surveyed Asia Pacific countries saw an average peak speed of above 50 Mbps, excluding China, the Philippines and India.

It said Singapore once again led the region and the world with an average peak connection of 184.5 Mbps in the first quarter of this year. — Bernama