Snapshot: actual Internet download speeds from across the Caribbean, September 2014

NEWS – An update of actual Internet download speeds in 27 Caribbean countries and a comparison with results recorded in May 2014.

Just over four months ago, May 2014, we launched a new Snapshot that presented actual (real life) upload and download speeds from across the Caribbean. In that exercise, data for 28 countries was highlighted, which also established a baseline for future comparison.

In light of the dynamic nature of the Internet globally, and even in the Caribbean, where Internet Service Providers are continually fine-tuning their networks and services, and consumer behaviour among Caribbean Internet users is also changing as the market base grows, this exercise might need more frequent updating. Unlike the previous article, where both upload and download speed data was presented, in this instance, we will focus on download speed, and compare the new results with those recorded in May.

Similar to the May 2014 exercise, the data for this assessment was drawn from Internet speed tests conducted by Ookla, a recognised provider of broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications. Using the results of its speed test applications, it is able to continuously track Internet speeds and performance globally. Ookla has formulated two indices – a Household Upload Index and a Household Download Index – which compares and ranks consumer upload and download speeds worldwide (192 countries), and represents them as a rolling mean speed in Megabits per second (Mbps) over the past 30 days.

The results presented in the next section were recorded on 23 September 2014 for the countries listed in Table 1. Unlike the May 2014 exercise, which covered 28 countries, there were no results for Bonaire, Statia (St. Eustatius) and Saba; hence they have been excluded. Click for results