Subjects: POLITICS, ANALYSTS' COMMENTS, GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, MISCELLANEOUS, MISCELLANEOUS
New internet performance data shows the staggering scale of Canada's urban-rural digital divide
Ottawa, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New data released by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) shows significant differences in the internet speeds experienced by rural and urban Canadians. The data was generated by CIRA's Internet Performance Test and was submitted yesterday into the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) consultation on barriers to rural broadband deployment. Today's release comes on the heels of a promise by Rural Economic Development Minister Maryam Monsef to speed up rural broadband funding distribution.
The data demonstrates the massive gap in actual, measured internet speeds experienced by Canadian households in rural and urban areas. For example, in April, rural download speeds were nearly 12 times slower than those enjoyed by urban Canadians. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, internet speeds have fallen for rural users, and increased for urban users, effectively widening Canada's digital divide.
Our full release with graphs and figures is available here: https://bit.ly/2YK4xwx
Key Findings
- In April, median rural download speeds were measured at 3.78 Mbps, compared to 44.09 Mbps in urban Canada ? a difference of 11.7 times (Figure 1).
- Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, median speeds have continued to fall for rural users. Typical download speeds vary from 4 to 7 Mbps. Since February, speeds have fallen to 3.78 Mbps (Figure 2).
- Urban speeds have actually increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began, climbing to an annual high of 44.09 Mbps in April (Figure 3). While urban internet users often have options to upgrade their service, options are limited for most rural users.
- Rural Canadian upload speeds are, on average, ten times slower than urban speeds. Fast upload speeds are critical for video conferencing, cloud storage, and other popular productivity applications used by Canadians working and learning from home.
- Overall, the median download and upload speeds for both rural and urban Canadians combined over the 12 month period were 17.56 Mbps download and 6.69 Mbps upload. These can be compared with other countries using M-Lab's Visualization explorer here.
The data is based on testing data generated between May 2019 and April 2020 from a total of 86,706 urban tests and 31,734 rural tests. You can see our full CRTC submission here.
CIRA has partnered with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to collect real-world testing data to help the government maximize its investment in rural broadband and identify where the need is greatest. Canadians can help promote faster internet for all by taking CIRA's Internet Performance Test at performance.cira.ca.
Figures and Graphs
Our full release with graphs and figures available here: https://bit.ly/2YK4xwx
- Figure 1: The Rural-Urban Internet Divide.
- Figure 2: Rural National Median Upload and Download Speeds by Month.
- Figure 3: Urban National Median Internet Speeds by Month.
Executive Quote
"The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of high-quality internet access for all Canadians. Despite this, access to broadband internet remains out of reach for too many Canadians - especially those in underserved regions. It's clear that rural Canadians are facing serious connectivity challenges right now, and are counting on all industry stakeholders to take action to achieve the CRTC's 50/10 objective. The data we released shows a massive gap between the speeds that rural and urban Canadians are receiving - a gap that feels even larger in light of widespread social distancing and working from home. We applaud the government's commitment to helping narrow the broadband gap, and are eager to assist Minister Monsef and her colleagues in getting all Canadians connected as soon as possible."
-Dave Chiswell, vice president of product development, CIRA
About CIRA's Internet Performance Test
CIRA's Internet Performance Test is one of the most advanced tests of internet speed and quality available and has the public interest at its core. The test nodes are located in internet exchange points in Tier 1 Canadian cities, rather than within an ISP's own network architecture. This allows CIRA to measure the actual performance of an internet connection to an "off-net" server in real network conditions, closely representing the true internet experience of Canadian users. To assess internet performance, CIRA uses the Network Diagnostic Test (NDT) developed by M-Lab. The platform allows Canadians to test the quality of their internet connections ? including metrics for speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss. Canadians have performed over 640,000 tests on the platform since May of 2015. Communities around the country, including the City of Burlington, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and Kelowna, B.C., amongst others, have also used the CIRA IPT to assess the quality of broadband connectivity in their regions.
About CIRA
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) welcomes the opportunity to comment on barriers to the deployment of broadband-capable networks in underserved areas of Canada. CIRA is a member-based, not-for-profit organization best known for managing the .CA top-level internet domain name on behalf of all Canadians. While CIRA's core mandate is the safe, stable, and secure operation of the .CA domain and its underlying technologies, the organization also connects, protects, and engages the internet community in Canada and beyond by providing high-quality registry, DNS, and cybersecurity services.
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