OTTAWA – Canadians are so reliant upon their internet service that some 46% said that they’d give up fast food for a year rather than disconnect, says a report this week by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).
CIRA Internet Factbook 2017, an annual report that covers the state of Canada’s internet, e-commerce, cybersecurity and the online habits of Canadians, also said that 34% of respondents would give up alcohol, 31% would pass on chocolate, and 26% would ditch their coffee rather than lose the internet.
Of the 87% of Canadians who have a broadband internet connection, 81% say that they are satisfied with their home internet speed. However, just over half (54%) believe that they are getting good value for their money for home internet service, and 17% of Canadians with home internet say they are likely to switch ISPs in the next three months.
Despite the CRTC’s directive that Canadians should have speeds of 50 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband services, CIRA’s Internet Performance Test, along with the larger dataset held within MLab (Measurement Lab provides the Network Diagnostic Tool used to measure performance), found average download speeds of 19.69Mbps and 10.01 Mbps upload. This may be due to a lack of access to high-speed internet or because users aren’t taking advantage of higher performance packages offered by ISPs, continues the report.
Over 70% of Canadians spend at least three hours a day online. The use of a mobile device to access the internet jumped from 58% in 2016 to 67% this year, though desktop/laptop computer still ranked highest at 90%. Just 2% of respondents use a voice-controlled “connected-home” device.
Other highlights from the report include:
– Almost three-quarters (73%) of Canadian internet users are unlikely to purchase a home in an area that lacks access to high-speed internet;
– 82% of Canadians have made an online purchase in the last 12 months, and 4-in-10 Canadians prefer to shop online rather than in-person in a store;
– 57% of Canadians are unaware that most of Canada’s internet infrastructure, including communications beginning and ending in Canada, is run through the U.S. Seventy-six percent say that they are concerned about the security and privacy of their personal information on the internet if it is stored or routed through the U.S.
– 75% of Canadians are concerned about an actual or potential cyberattack against organizations they know and 44% are unlikely to continue making purchases from an online business following a major cyberattack.
