Canada
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Canada
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Rogers is unbeaten in Consistent Quality
Rogers wins Consistent Quality outright for the second consecutive time, currently with a score of 77.5%. This indicates that Rogers users continue to see the greatest proportion of tests that meet the minimum thresholds to support more demanding commonly used mobile applications, such as video calling or uploading an image to social media.
Telus and Bell lead in Coverage Experience
The Coverage Experience award metric measures the geographic network coverage of populated areas. Bell and Telus are joint-winners of the Coverage Experience award with identical scores of 9.4 points on a 10-point scale.
Rogers retains the top spot for Video and Live Video Experience
The best quality of experience while streaming on-demand videos and live videos in Canada is with Rogers. Rogers remains the sole victor of the Video and Live Video Experience awards with scores of 69.2 points and 61.8 points on 100-point scales, respectively. As a result, Rogers garners a Very Good (68-78) rating for Video Experience and an Excellent (58 or above) rating for Live Video Experience. Telus places second while Bell occupies the third spot in both categories.
Bell outpaces the competition in Download Speed Experience
Our Canadian users on Bell’s network have the fastest overall average download speeds of 77Mbps, making Bell the new outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award. It was shared by Bell and Telus last time around. Compared to the previous report, the average download speeds have improved by between 2.4% and 4.5% across all three national networks — Bell, Telus and Rogers.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In Opensignal's latest analysis of Canada's overall mobile network experience, Rogers continues to lead, winning six out of eight award categories outright. Rogers wins the Consistent Quality award, doing it for the second-consecutive time. Furthermore, Rogers beats the competition when it comes to our users’ on-demand and live video streaming experience and outpaces them in terms of average upload speeds. However, Bell now has the highest average download speeds and is tied for top Coverage Experience alongside Telus. Moreover, our users on Rogers and Telus enjoy the best quality of experience while playing multiplayer mobile games.
In this report, we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Canada — Telus, Bell, and Rogers — over a period of 90 days starting on October 01, 2023 and ending on December 29, 2023. Along with our national analysis, we've also examined our users' mobile network experience across Canada's major provinces to see how regional carriers Videotron, Freedom Mobile or SaskTel compare in their respective service areas. We have also published a companion Canada 5G Experience report which analyzes the experience of our 5G users when they are connected to 5G.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Rogers wins the Video Experience award outright with a score of 69.2 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of three points over Telus With these scores, Rogers places in the Very Good (68-78) category, while Telus and Bell place one category lower, in Good (58-68). These scores show that our Rogers users enjoy the best experience when streaming on-demand video over mobile networks in Canada.
A Very Good (68-78) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. A Good (58-68) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Rogers is the outright winner of the Live Video Experience award in Canada, scoring 61.8 points on a 100-point scale. Telus and Rogers place in the Excellent (58 or above) category, while Bell places one category lower, in Very Good (53-58).
Operators’ Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
An Excellent (58 or above) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
Telus and Rogers share the Games Experience award with statistically tied scores, both slightly ahead of Bell. All operators place in the Fair (65-75) category.
A Fair (65-75) rating means that users find the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users reporting that they feel like they have control over the game. The majority of players report that they notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Bell wins the Download Speed Experience award outright with users on its network experiencing the fastest overall download speeds in Canada, 77Mbps on average — 1.3Mbps faster than Telus and 13.4Mbps faster than third-placed Rogers. Compared to the last report, Download Speed Experience scores have improved modestly across the board— by 2.7Mbps on Rogers. Telus' score has increased by 1.8Mbps, while Bell's score has increased by 1.8Mbps .
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Regional Analysis
Opensignal has looked at overall mobile experience across seven individual regions on Canada's three national carriers — Bell, Rogers and Telus — and on Videotron in Quebec, SaskTel in Saskatchewan, Freedom Mobile in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
In line with the national results, Rogers leads in our regional analysis of Video and Live Video Experience, taking home the largest haul of awards in both categories. Rogers is top for the quality of on-demand and live video streaming in six out of seven regions, including a joint win alongside Freedom in British Columbia and alongside Telus in Manitoba and Saskatchewan for both categories.
Looking at the regional analysis of Games Experience, we see a close competition between Bell and Telus, as both operators are joint top in five out of seven regions. Additionally, Telus leads outright for Games Experience in Manitoba. Bell and Telus share the top spot with Rogers in Atlantic provinces and Quebec where Videotron joins the podium for a four-way split. In Saskatchewan, the Games Experience scores with SaskTel, Bell and Telus are statistically similar.
We see a two-horse race between Bell and Telus in our regional analysis of average download speed. Bell and Telus are top across all seven regions including Alberta, where Bell, Rogers and Telus are joint top.
Rogers takes home the biggest share of the regional Upload Speed Experience award. Our users across all seven regions enjoy the top upload speeds on Rogers, the operator wins outright in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
Regional Analysis Summary: Canada, Mobile Network Experience Report, February 2024
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Coverage
National Analysis
Telus and Bell share the Coverage Experience award with identical scores of 9.4 points on a 10-point scale.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
National Analysis
All three operators, Bell, Rogers and Telus, share the Availability award.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Regional Analysis
In our regional analysis of Availability, the only operator to lead outright in a region is Videotron in Quebec. Bell and Telus are joint first in all of the remaining regions — sharing the top spot in Manitoba and Atlantic Provinces with Rogers, Alberta with Freedom Mobile, British Columbia and Ontario with both Rogers and Freedom Mobile and Saskatchewan with Rogers and SaskTel.
Regional Analysis Summary: Canada, Mobile Network Experience Report, February 2024
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Consistency
National Analysis
Rogers is the sole winner of the Consistent Quality award with a score of 77.5% and a lead of 0.6 percentage points over second place Bell, while Telus occupies the third place.
Telus' score has increased by 3.3 percentage points since the previous report. Rogers' and Bell’s scores have increased by 1.1 percentage points.
This metric measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices. It assesses a number of experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, and time to first byte.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
Regional Analysis
Rogers dominates the regional Consistent Quality breakdown, winning outright in Alberta, Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia and Quebec. Telus is outright top in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and joint-top with Bell in Ontario, for Consistent Quality.
Regional Analysis Summary: Canada, Mobile Network Experience Report, February 2024
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Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience