LONDON, UK – Montreal takes the cake as Canada’s fastest city for mobile speeds, according to new data from OpenSignal.
The mobile analytics company said that its overall speed metrics measure the average download and upload speeds users see across 3G and 4G networks, taking into account how often users are connected to each technology. Though overall speeds are usually much slower than the speeds customers would see over unfettered 4G connections, Canadian city-dwellers enjoy overall download and upload speeds that average above 30 Mbps in the country's 12 largest metro areas, while upload averages in each city topped 7 Mbps.
In overall download speed, Edmonton and Montreal were tied for the fastest city with scores of 46.9 Mbps, which puts them on par with most advanced 4G cities in the world. Calgary, Quebec City and Kitchener averaged 4G download speeds in excess of 40 Mbps, continued the report.
In overall upload, Montreal stood alone at the top of the chart with an average speed of 12.6 Mbps, more than a megabit faster than Kitchener, its nearest competitor. Upload speeds were high in many of Canada's cities, with seven of the 12 analyzed measuring upload scores greater than 10 Mbps (see graphic below – click to enlarge).
The report credits Canada’s Big Three national mobile operators’ investments in their urban 4G infrastructure.
“But 4G speeds alone aren't enough to produce such high overall speed scores”, continues the report. “All three of Canada's national operators are approaching 90% in our 4G availability metrics, meaning our users are able to find an LTE connection on their networks in nearly nine out of every 10 attempts. That high level of 4G access means consumers spend relatively little time connected to slower 3G networks, which provides a big boost to their overall speed scores.”
