Bell and Telus offering the fastest fiber services in several provinces and cities: analysis

Bell offers Prince Edward Island residents upload speeds 12 times faster compared to the combined speeds of other broadband providers in the area, according to data collected from Speedtest Intelligence in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Speedtest is a tool by Ookla that tests fixed broadband and mobile performance data worldwide.

The recent analysis examines fiber connectivity across Canada, focusing on Bell and Telus, given they serve different parts of the country. Their speeds are compared to the average speeds of other companies that serve the area.

Bell also offered faster median download speeds compared to the market average in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Québec. Telus offered faster services in Alberta and British Columbia.

Bell also led with upload speeds compared to other fixed broadband offerings in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, PEI, and Québec. Telus led in upload speeds for Alberta and British Columbia.

Image credit: Speedtest

Bell and Telus don’t provide service in Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, impacting services in each province.

For example, the average download speed in Saskatchewan is 68.43Mbps, and the upload speed is 17.04Mbps. This is much slower than the speeds in New Brunswick. Serviced by Bell, the download speed is roughly 160Mbps, and upload is around 120Mbps.

“Infrastructure improvements like laying fiber are very expensive as they often require providers to dig up city streets to physically lay new lines. This often means that fiber deployments are limited to areas with high population density where providers are more likely to recoup costs.”

The analysis shows laying down fiber is worth the cost. In Halifax, for example, fiber upload speeds by Bell are 11.4 times faster than other fixed broadband options. Bell also offered faster upload speed in London, Montréal, Québec City and Toronto. Telus offered faster upload speeds in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, compared to other options.

Source: Speedtest