N. Korea ranks near bottom among countries in Internet speed

North Korea ranks 134th of the world's 170 countries in terms of internet connection speed, a U.S.-based media report said Wednesday.

According to the Voice of America (VOA), North Korea's internet speed remained at 2.0 Mbps, a mere one-thirteenth of South Korea, which has the fastest Internet connectivity speed at 26.7 Mbps.

The media report is based on the fourth quarter report of 2015 by Akamai, a cloud services provider that helps deliver content online. The service provider publishes its "State of the Internet" report each quarter.

The Akamai survey said the next fastest internet speed country after South Korea is Sweden with 19.1 Mbps, trailed by Norway with 18.8 Mbps and Japan with 17.4 Mbps.

China's internet speed is measured at 4.1 Mbps, slower than the global average of 5.6 Mbps, but still double the speed of North Korea.

The report also said that other countries with lower internet speed than North Korea are Cuba, Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia, Nepal and some African and Middle East countries. (Yonhap)