New report shows broadband speeds in Ireland getting significantly faster

The latest annual study from Cable.co.uk shows that Ireland’s broadband speeds continue to improve, however we still lag behind many other developed countries. 

With an average download speed of just under 103Mbps, a big improvement from 76Mbps last year, Ireland ranks 40th out of 229 countries and territories worldwide in terms of speed.

Out of the 49 countries and territories tested in Europe, Ireland comes a fairly average 26th.

The study looked at data from around 1.5 billion broadband speed tests worldwide and was collected over the 12 months up to 30th June 2024.

The data was gathered by M-Lab, a non-profit open source project with contributors from educational institutions and private sector companies, and analysed and compiled by Cable.co.uk. 

The results in detail

Europe dominates the global speed table once again this year: 31 of the top 50 fastest countries are located in the region. And smaller countries have definitely fared best.

Iceland has the fastest broadband in the world with an average speed of 279.55Mbps. The self-governing dependency of Jersey is a close second with an average speed of 273.51Mbps. And Macau, the autonomous region on the south coast of China, is in third spot with an average speed of 234.74Mbps.

The tiny principality of Liechtenstein comes next with an average speed of 222.98Mbps while Denmark rounds out the top five with an with an average speed of 210.51Mbps.

It will be immediately striking to most that all of these countries share similarities. Most are within Western Europe, are wealthy, and all are either very small or island nations. It is much easier to roll out pure fibre broadband and 5G mobile broadband to a smaller population and/or across a smaller area after all.

Mind you, Ireland fits most of this criteria too and we're not doing quite as well...

The five countries in the world with the slowest network speeds are the British Indian Ocean Territory (2.38Mbps), Turkmenistan (2.72Mbps), Syria (2.80Mbps), Yemen (2.99Mbps) and Tajikistan (3.10Mbps).

Downloading a movie of 5GB in size would take 2m 27s at the average speed experienced in table-topper Iceland, while it would take almost 5 HOURS in last-placed British Indian Ocean Territory. In Ireland, at average speeds, the movie would take 6m 38s - around two minutes quicker than last year! 

As mentioned, 31 of the top 50 fastest countries for broadband are in Europe, with nine in Asia, three in the Caribbean region, three in North America, three in South America, and one in Oceania.

By contrast, 30 of the 50 slowest-performing countries are located in Sub-Saharan or Northern Africa.

35 countries failed to achieve average speeds of 10Mbps or greater, the speed deemed by UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom to be the minimum required to cope with the needs of a typical family or small business. This is down from 48 countries in 2023, 67 countries in 2022, and 94 countries in 2021, indicating significant speed improvements are ongoing in many parts of the world.

The good and the bad

Although average speeds in Ireland have improved significantly this year according to the study, many of our major competitors for jobs and investment still rank well ahead of us.

Also, these are average speeds. While some homes and businesses will meet and even far surpass these speeds, many homes in rural areas in particular are still stuck without any form of high-speed broadband whatsoever.   

However, the National Broadband Plan, which will equip over half a million homes and businesses in rural Ireland with high-speed, pure fibre broadband, is ongoing, with around 100,000 premises having already been connected.  

Meanwhile SIRO, a joint venture between the ESB and Vodafone to bring pure fibre broadband with speeds of up to 2,000Mbps to regional towns across the country, has now passed over 500,000 households.  

And if you're lucky enough to live in an urban area of Ireland you shouldn't have too many issues finding a broadband provider to cover your needs in terms of speed and coverage. All of the major providers offer speeds of up to 100Mbps and some even go above and beyond. For instance Virgin Media offers speeds of up to 500Mbps as standard with its top packages now offering up to 2,000Mbps in some locations.

With all this going on, it will be interesting to see how Ireland fares in the rankings over the coming years. But it's encouraging to see the big improvement in speed this year. 

The speed test results also don't differentiate between the actual speed available to households versus take-up, so Ireland's somewhat average ranking could also be a reflection of customers opting for slower broadband packages, or indeed a better marketing of full fibre deals in other countries.

Not happy with your broadband speed?

How does your broadband speed measure up in comparison? Why not perform a speed test and see what kind of speeds you're actually getting?

And if you’re not satisfied, it might be time to shop around for a new provider. You can compare and switch providers quickly and easily right here on bonkers.ie.  

But before you switch, here are seven things to consider before you choose your next provider.