The average Internet connection speed worldwide increased 18% during the third quarter of 2009 to reach 1.7 Mbps, according to Akamai's latest State of the Internet report.

The majority of countries within the top ten (based on average measured connection speed) saw average connection speeds increase on a quarterly basis, with seven of the countries in the top ten seeing flat to higher average connections speeds during the period.  Romania, Sweden and the Czech Republic all saw quarterly declines in their average speeds during the third quarter of last year, though they all maintained positive yearly growth, according to the report.

The US (ranking 18th overall) saw a small quarterly gain in average connection speeds, increasing to 3.9 Mbps, but declined slightly from a year-on-year perspective.  Quarterly changes in average measured connection speeds within the US are described as being "mixed" during the quarter: among the top ten states measured, three states and the District of Columbia saw speeds increase 15% or more, while New Hampshire and New York saw "nominal decreases".

Meanwhile, Sandy (Utah, US), Beersheva (Israel), Wellington (New Zealand) and Lausanne (Switzerland) were named as being among the cities which possess the top average connection speeds in their respective regions.  Brazil has four of the top ten fastest cities in South America, with average speeds of between 1.6 Mbps and 1.9 Mbps.

Akamai also observed attack traffic originating from 207 unique countries during the third quarter of 2009, nearly consistent with 201 unique countries in the previous quarter.  In a shift from prior quarterly periods, Russia and Brazil replaced the US and China as the two largest attack traffic sources, accounting for nearly 22% of observed traffic in total during the period.