Canada places among the top countries for broadband reliability, according to a new report from U.K.-based mobile analytics firm Opensignal.
With a Broadband Reliability Experience score of 699 (on a 100-1,000 point scale), Canada ranks fourth out of the 18 markets surveyed for the study, behind only Sweden, Norway and the U.K., according to the report, which is based on data collected between March 1 and May 29 of this year.
In its assessment of users’ fixed broadband experience across the 18 countries, Opensignal’s Bridging the digital divide: unlocking reliable broadband for all report examines countries with varying income levels and characteristics and explores the differences in broadband reliability between urban and rural areas. It found urban reliability is consistently higher, with urban households having access to better infrastructure, higher-speed broadband tiers and newer equipment. In Canada, for example, there is a 12 per cent difference between the broadband reliability experience in urban areas versus rural areas, according to the report.
Income levels are less predictive of reliability than density, however, with fixed broadband reliability in urban areas of middle-income countries like Chile and Poland surpassing rural reliability in many high-income countries, the report says.
Furthermore, the report found network infrastructure sharing is not associated with high reliability or a narrow digital divide. Countries with limited infrastructure sharing but targeted subsidies for private rural investment mostly perform better than those relying on widespread infrastructure sharing, says the report, which made special note of the Canadian government’s $3.2-billion Universal Broadband Fund that aims to achieve high-speed internet access for 98 per cent of Canadians by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.
Topography and density are key factors in the size of the digital divide globally, according to the report. Markets with highly concentrated populations in urban areas show small gaps between urban and rural reliability, and spread-out middle-income countries with difficult terrain show big gaps. But a few countries with a lot of medium-density areas, like the U.S. and Spain, have relatively small digital divides, the report says.
Chart borrowed from Opensignal’s report
