Technological considerations and internet connectivity are becoming ever-more priorities for today's travelers from all walks of life, and staying connected can prove challenging (and often expensive) when venturing into parts unknown.
A new study conducted by TravelSim, the world's leading alternative roaming service, provides valuable some insights in this regard.
Twenty of the world's top destination cities for international tourists were analyzed according to data collected from such sources as Wiman, Three, O2, TravelSim, TripAdvisor, Wifi Freespot and Nomadlist to reveal those that ranked highest in terms of several criteria: the number of free Wi-Fi hotspots per square mile, the number of hotels with free Wi-Fi per square mile, the average internet speed, the average cost of 1 MB of data and the number of airports offering free Wi-Fi.
The results were combined to create an overall index score for each city, revealing which were the most well-connected metropolises worldwide.
It turns out that Europe is the leading continent when it comes to keeping connected overall, with Paris, Barcelona and Milan all featuring in the top ten best-connected cities. In Asia, Pattaya, Thailand, is the best destination in which to stay linked, also coming in second worldwide for overall connectivity.
London took first place for its airports providing free Wi-Fi, followed by New York, Tokyo, Istanbul, Paris and Barcelona.
Cost-wise, per 1 MB of data, London also offers the best prices, tailed by Spain's Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, then Milan and Paris.
In terms of actual Internet speeds, Asia pulls ahead, with Singapore coming in first position, followed by Hong Kong, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and New York.
Besides proving itself the best overall worldwide city in which to stay well-connected, Paris also ranked first when it came to offering free Wi-Fi, boasting 3,547 free Wi-Fi spots per square kilometer, followed by Barcelona with 1,743, Pattaya with 1,522, New York with 1,488 and Milan with 1,369.
Combined criteria revealed the top ten cities for Wi-Fi coverage and connectivity overall to be:
- Paris, France
- Pattaya, Thailand
- Barcelona, Spain
- New York City, USA
- Singapore
- Milan, Italy
- Hong Kong, China
- Seoul, South Korea
- Osaka, Japan
- Palma de Mallorca, Spain
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