Canadians using more broadband

GATINEAU, QUE. — The country’s telecom regulator says Canadians are demanding more, and faster, internet access, especially on mobile devices.

In its annual communications monitoring report, the CRTC says there were three million more mobile broadband subscriptions taken out by Canadians in 2016 compared with the previous year, a 13.3 per cent increase.

And the regulator says Canadians used an average of 1.2 gigabytes of data a month on their wireless devices, a 25 per cent hike from 2015.

Average monthly consumption of data using home internet connections was also up by more than 23 per cent in 2016 compared with the previous year, reaching 128.3 gigabytes, said the report.

The CRTC said that, over the last five years, monthly data used by Canadians increased by an average of 40 per cent annually.

CRTC chair Ian Scott says the regulator is working with industry and consumers to ensure greater access.

“As the industry continues to invest in their networks to meet current and future demands, the CRTC is establishing a fund to improve broadband access in remote and rural communities,” Scott said.

But broadband advocacy group OpenMedia notes that nine out of 10 Canadians still haven’t subscribed to what the regulator considers “basic” internet service.

“It’s been almost a year since high-speed internet was declared a basic service in Canada, but we are still far from this being a reality for the majority of Canadians,” said Katy Anderson, OpenMedia’s digital rights advocate.

“We’re seeing continued cordcutting across the country and a significant increase in data usage — but our telecommunications market has not kept up,” Anderson added.