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New York is one of the most internet-friendly cities in the world

The US lags behind the most internet-friendly cities and destinations with the most 5G rollouts. So, which cities are leaders?
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

The 10 most internet-friendly destinations around the world only include one US city: New York. But the US is doing far better with its 5G rollouts, despite resistance to this form of technology.

London-based fiber deals provider Business Fibre has reported that New York -- the only US city -- comes in at No. 5 on the list of the top 10 most internet-friendly cities. New York enjoys has 33.6mb download, 30.1mb upload speeds, and 1,051,818 free Wi-Fi access points. The average cost per month for internet is $63.74

London leads the way at No. 1 worldwide with 34.3mb download speed, 32.8mb upload speed, and 688,126 free Wi-Fi access points. The average cost for internet is $39.21.

This is followed by Tokyo (45.2mb download, 43.mb3 upload, 463,638 free Wi-Fi access points, and $44.86 average cost of the internet), Paris (42.8mb download, 29mb upload, 378,809 free Wi-Fi access points, and $30.37 average cost).

Singapore comes in at fourth (with 54.6mb download, 38.4mb upload, 330,229 free Wi-Fi access points, and $31.34 average internet cost per month). Dubai in the UAE is the least internet-friendly city. Its download speed is 143mb, upload, 7.2mb, and it has 108,479 Wi-Fi access points. However, the average cost of the internet there is a staggering $100.77 average cost per month.

However, this figure changes when it comes to 5G rollouts. Seoul, South Korea takes the crown with the most 5G rollouts at 83. This is over twice the amount of rollouts compared to any other city around the globe.

New York - one of the most internet friendly cities in the world zdnet
Business Fibre

London is the top city in Europe leading the way with 5G rollouts at 35. The second European city is Rome with just two rollouts. Of the top five cities, the US holds three destinations with Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas with 40, 14, and 13 hotspots, respectively.

In China Shenzen and Guangzhou -- both major technology producing areas -- and Shanghai have only rolled out three 5G hotspots each.

New York - one of the most internet friendly cities in the world zdnet
NCTA

The coronavirus pandemic has seen a large change in demand for US broadband networks since March reaching a peak in early May.

The internet and television association, (NCTA) has noticed a downstream peak growth of 14.9% as cable's broadband networks saw significant surges in internet traffic growth in this short period of time.

It has also noticed a surge of Wi-Fi data traffic and Wi-Fi calling as compared to mobile due to networks supporting more Wi-Fi-connected devices.

So, its good news for cable suppliers as we demand more and more from our internet providers. But, unless you live in New York, be prepared to compromise on the service you would really like to have, and accept that 5G is a very long way away indeed.

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