Canada’s fibre coverage, speeds, growing marginally compared to other countries: Study

Canada has seen “reasonable fibre coverage” but growth in coverage has been slow over the last year, according to a new fibre development study. Thursday, Omdia, a market research and consulting business for digital service providers, released its 2021 global Fiber Development Index Analysis. The index tracks and benchmarks fibre development across 81 countries using metrics such as business penetration, mobile cell site fibre penetration, fibre backbone investment, and overall average download and upload speed with standard fibre household coverage and household penetration, according to the study. “Fibre-based networks are recognized as providing sustainable and cost-efficient communications networks with high bandwidth, stability, reliability, and reduced latency,” the report states. “This overall enhanced customer experience has provided FTTH operators with a competitive advantage over other forms of broadband competition. The study mentioned BCE Inc. as an example of a company with a lower churn rate – the rate at which customers stop doing business with an entity – when customers are on a full-fibre FTTH network. However, the study found that Canada, along with the Netherlands, and Ukraine dropped the most in ranking, by seven places, among broadband-ready countries, which have medium-to-high levels of broadband penetration but low levels of fibre investment (classified as “Cluster 2” countries). “Therefore increases in penetration and average speeds have also only grown marginally in comparison with other countries. This highlights the fact that relatively developed countries must keep the momentum up if they are to remain competitive on the global stage,” the report stated regarding the three countries’ drop in ranking. Canada achieved a score of 43 out of 100 in the study. Among the nine “Cluster 1” countries – fibre-ready countries, which have a high level of fibre investment and are quickly moving to ultra-high-speed broadband services – Singapore lead the pack with an overall score of 92 out of 100, followed by South Korea, 76, United Arab Emirates, 72, China, 71, and Qatar, 65. “The two leading countries, Singapore and South Korea, also have high FTTH penetration, and Singapore in particular is now pushing ultrabroadband speeds and heading toward a gigabit society. China is rapidly catching up with these two countries in most areas but must continue to improve average broadband speeds, especially in the upstream direction,” the report reads. The study found that in the next five years “Cluster 2” countries like Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France will be reaching ultrafast average broadband speeds, in some cases more than 600Mbps, with investments in advanced copper-based technologies. However, to progress further, the report states, those countries must also penetrate into the production systems of industrial enterprises, connecting machines (FTTM) and industrial robots. Meanwhile it predicts the top “Cluster 1” countries will become full gigabit societies. “By 2026 emerging markets will be increasingly left behind, although some (such as India) are starting to develop more quickly. However, it is imperative that these countries continue moving toward a fibre-first network strategy,” according to the study.

Canada’s fibre coverage, speeds, growing marginally compared to other countries: Study

Brief | January 20, 2022

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Canada’s fibre coverage, speeds, growing marginally compared to other countries: Study

Brief | January 20, 2022

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