| CWA is comparing apples and oranges The "international comparison" that they're using uses the geographical average of the fastest advertised speed in an area, whereas their "Speed Matters" speed test rankings use the actual speed people have.
So, for example, Fairfax, VA has 30 Mbps download speed FIOS available in the area, and under the procedure used in the international comparison, the entire area would measure at 30 Mbps. However, their actual measured data shows a lot of people with slower connections in the area, because plenty of people actually sign up for cheaper, slower plans, including 768k DSL.
Also, the use of advertised speeds instead of actual speeds can cause some significant differences, particularly in comparing the US and Canada, both with very strong DOCSIS cable modem presence. |
