BC lags behind when it comes to Internet performance: report

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Are you happy with how fast your Internet speed is? Many in Western Canada may not be and some new data from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority has numbers to back that up.

It found Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal top the list, while Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey all landed at the bottom half of the ranking list. The group says upload speeds in particular need the most attention from service providers.

David Christopher with OpenMedia says this is sad and wouldn’t be surprised if people here on the Lower Mainland are growing increasingly frustrated. “It also really boils down to the lack of choice in the Internet services that people have here — we really only have Telus and Shaw.”

What’s interesting about this report is Canadians across the country are more or less paying the same amount for online access, yet service here in BC is so far behind.

“This helps shed a light on the actual speeds that Canadians are getting as opposed to the advertised speeds that their Internet company is promising. We’ve also had a longstanding problem where you might be able to get the advertised feed in the middle of the day, but when it comes to about 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. when lots of people are online, those feeds can drop dramatically.”

Christopher explains this impacts regular consumers, but it also has a deeper hit on businesses, especially those in the tech industry.

“It’s counter-intuitive. Vancouver does pride itself on being a tech hub both for Canada and on the West Coast and yet we have reports like this coming out that show our local Internet infrastructure is performing really poorly.”

His solution is to invest in a reliable and much faster Internet connection that won’t drive up monthly bills.

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