Hawai'i is among the slowest of the slow when it comes to average Internet speeds, with transfer rates well below the national average.

That's according to a new report that says Internet downloads clocked in at just under 3.0 megabits per second, ranking it fifth-worst among states and Washington, D.C.

The study by www.SpeedMatters.org also found that Hawai'i's average upload speed was fourth worst nationally.

The report is an attempt to gauge Internet connection transfer rates and how they compare among states and countries. The report found that while the national average for download speeds had improved to 5.1 megabits per second, the U.S. ranks well down the list of countries with fast Internet transfer rates, coming in at 28th.

The fastest on the list, South Korea, clocked in at four times speedier than the U.S., while Japan was at 15.8 megabits per second for downloads. The report's authors said Internet speeds factor into how competitive a nation may be in the future as more and more applications are used on the Internet.

"People in Japan can upload a high-definition video in 12 minutes, compared to a grueling 2.5 hours at the U.S. average upload speed," the report said. "Yet, people in Japan pay about the same as we do in the U.S. for their Internet connection."

The report said most U.S. Internet connections are far too slow to send and receive large files for medical monitoring, for home-based business, or multimedia distance learning. www.SpeedMatters.org, a group supported by the Communication Workers of America union, advocates creating a national policy fostering faster Internet connections.