A packet communication system, comprising: a first node; and a second node, the first node comprising: packet generation means (5, 6) for generating a plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, each of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m corresponding to one of a plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m, respectively, and having data amounts q 1, q 2,..., q m, respectively, that satisfy a relationship of q 1 <q 2 <...<q m, by encoding and packetizing each of the plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m at different bit rates from the same piece of audio information, where m is a natural number of 2 or more; and packet transmission means for transmitting the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m to the second node, which is different from the first node, via a packet communication network, the second node comprising: packet reception means for receiving the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m; delay time measurement means for measuring delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, respectively, a delay time of each packet being the time needed by said packet to travel from the first node to the second node; and packet selection means for selecting one of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m based on the delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m to designate a packet to be decoded; and decoding means for decoding the designated packet, wherein the packet transmission means is adapted to transmit the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m in ascending order of the data amounts, and wherein the packet selection means is adapted to sequentially determine, in the order of reception, the delay times of the packets which have been received, and select, when determining that the delay time of a given packet exceeds an allowable range, a packet that has been received immediately before the given packet, the determination based on the delay time being omitted with respect to a packet or packets which have been received after the given packet. a first node; and a second node, the first node comprising: packet generation means (5, 6) for generating a plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, each of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m corresponding to one of a plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m, respectively, and having data amounts q 1, q 2,..., q m, respectively, that satisfy a relationship of q 1 <q 2 <...<q m, by encoding and packetizing each of the plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m at different bit rates from the same piece of audio information, where m is a natural number of 2 or more; and packet transmission means for transmitting the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m to the second node, which is different from the first node, via a packet communication network, packet generation means (5, 6) for generating a plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, each of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m corresponding to one of a plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m, respectively, and having data amounts q 1, q 2,..., q m, respectively, that satisfy a relationship of q 1 <q 2 <...<q m, by encoding and packetizing each of the plurality of data d 1, d 2,...,d m at different bit rates from the same piece of audio information, where m is a natural number of 2 or more; and packet transmission means for transmitting the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m to the second node, which is different from the first node, via a packet communication network, the second node comprising: packet reception means for receiving the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m; delay time measurement means for measuring delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, respectively, a delay time of each packet being the time needed by said packet to travel from the first node to the second node; and packet selection means for selecting one of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m based on the delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m to designate a packet to be decoded; and decoding means for decoding the designated packet, packet reception means for receiving the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m; delay time measurement means for measuring delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m, respectively, a delay time of each packet being the time needed by said packet to travel from the first node to the second node; and packet selection means for selecting one of the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m based on the delay times t 1, t 2,..., t m to designate a packet to be decoded; and decoding means for decoding the designated packet, wherein the packet transmission means is adapted to transmit the plurality of packets P 1, P 2,..., P m in ascending order of the data amounts, and wherein the packet selection means is adapted to sequentially determine, in the order of reception, the delay times of the packets which have been received, and select, when determining that the delay time of a given packet exceeds an allowable range, a packet that has been received immediately before the given packet, the determination based on the delay time being omitted with respect to a packet or packets which have been received after the given packet.