America, rank 20th for Wi-Fi users

[TheAfterLife]

The United States does not lead in terms of the fastest public Wi‐Fi either. In fact, the US ranks 20th in that capacity, with Lithuania topping the list. In the top 10 are, in order, Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, Romania, the UK, Denmark, Hungary, Belgium, and Slovenia, with the United States in the very distant 20th position. The US also does not enter the top five countries in terms of connection speeds using such devices as smartphones or tablets on mobile networks. There, the leading countries are the UK, Belgium, Cyprus, Switzerland, and Germany, in that order.7 In one list of the top countries in terms of mobile Internet speeds, the US ranks 28th, and trails behind Greece and Estonia.8

Internet access does not always involve use of such media‐connected devices as web streaming devices, game consoles, or smart TVs. Indications suggest that in terms of use of web streaming devices, Apple TV dominates in the US and France, with Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast close behind. Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV reportedly shared about equal popularity in Germany, with Google Chromecast being particularly popular in Spain. All of these devices are US products. At the same time, however, Korea‐based Samsung has been leading in terms of smart TV penetration globally.9 In 2018, adults in China were spending about a quarter of their media time on smartphones, just about 1% more than in South Korea, although use of cellphones for voice communication is higher in South Korea than anywhere else in the world.

—Global Communication Textbook