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No Internet for 1/5th of Canadian Homes: Too Expensive, Too Slow, and Too Often Not Available

Phillip Dampier May 26, 2011 Broadband Speed, Canada, Consumer News, Public Policy & Gov't, Rural Broadband 2 Comments

Courtesy: CBCAt least 20 percent of Canadians lack Internet access, according to a new survey published by Statistics Canada.  That means one out of every five homes either cannot afford, don’t want, or can’t get online.

The lack of access is most acute in low income households, where only about half with incomes of $30,000 or less access the Internet.  The income and access disparity was readily apparent when comparing broadband rich, income poor New Brunswick (70% have broadband) with service-deprived British Columbia, which has an 84% penetration rate.  In NB, you can get it but you can’t afford it; in BC if you can get it, you already have it.

Although cities in southern Canada are well-wired, smaller communities further north are often not, and the access some get is slow and unreliable.  But few are willing to live with dial-up access.  At least 96% of Canadians rely on broadband or simply go without the service.  The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has set a goal to deliver at least 5Mbps broadband service to every interested Canadian by the end of 2012.

Some statistics, starting with those without Internet service:

  • 56% lacked interest or need;
  • 20% cited the cost of the service;
  • 15% don’t have access to a computer;
  • 12% don’t understand enough about computers or the Internet to use it;
  • 93% of households with children had Internet access while just 58% of single-person homes had the service;
  • 81% of urban homes had access to broadband, just 71% of rural homes do;
  • 71% of Canadians access the Internet from a traditional desktop computer, 64% use a laptop, 35% use a tablet or smartphone for access, and just 20% rely on a video game console to get online.

Statistics Canada surveyed 30,000 Canadians as part of its research.

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Mileena
Mileena
12 years ago

Interesting for this article to pop up now. I currently live in a rural area of the finger lakes, but we do have TWC broadband. I have Turbo and have anxiously been awaiting the DOCSIS 3 50Mbps. Now I find myself relocating to another rural town below Elmira, and they do not have cable at all. Looking into my options the only thing I could find was dial up or satellite internet service- a max speed of 1.5Mbps (with a 400mb cap!) for $89.99 a month! I honestly had no idea that there were still so many places that, although… Read more »

The Dollar Defender
The Dollar Defender
12 years ago

Just a quick note that if you call Rogers and complain that you’re paying too much for internet, they will likely give you a discount. In fact, I wrote an article where I explained step by step how to do this and even give a comparison chart of a cheaper service that you can use with your complaint.

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