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
The best mobile gaming experience over a 5G connection is now with Bell and Telus
Bell and Telus are the new joint winners of the 5G Games Experience award. The pair overtake Rogers to win the award with statistically tied scores of 83.6-83.8 points on a 100-point scale. Rogers slips down to third due to its score decreasing five points since the previous report.
5G Availability has increased across the board
The proportion of time that our 5G users spend with a 5G connection — 5G Availability — has increased on all three operators. Rogers wins the award outright for the third time in a row, this time with a score of 11.2%. However, Rogers’ lead has shrunk since the last report as both Bell and Telus enjoyed larger increases in score.
Rogers is unbeaten for 5G Video Experience
Rogers continues its winning streak for 5G Video Experience, making this the third consecutive time that it has won this award. Rogers’ score of 77.9 points on a 100-point scale puts it just shy of the Excellent (78 or above) category. All three operator’s scores have improved between reports, with Bell’s increasing the most — three points.
5G Experience Awards
Market Overview
The award table remains largely unchanged in this report on the Canadian mobile network experience. 5G Games Experience is the only award to have a shift in the leader, with Bell and Telus both overtaking Rogers for the top spot. This leaves Rogers and Bell both with three total wins, while Telus has two.
Looking regionally, Rogers does well for 5G Video Experience, 5G Upload Speed and 5G Availability. Bell stands out for 5G Download Speed and 5G Coverage Experience, and Telus does well for 5G Coverage Experience and 5G Games Experience.
Canada’s Ministry of Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada (ISED) has recently held a ‘residual spectrum’ auction of mobile/fixed wireless frequency licenses that went unsold in previous auctions or that have been returned to the authorities. Nine Canadian companies bought 56 licenses, with two-thirds of the licenses going to rural and regional providers. This auction, along with the previous auction of 5G spectrum in late 2023, will improve rural and remote connectivity and support the effective deployment of 5G technologies — hopefully addressing the disparity between Canada’s 5G international position against other markets leading in 5G deployments.
In this report we examine the 5G mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Canada — Telus, Bell and Rogers — over a period of 90 days starting on April 01, 2024, and ending on June 29, 2024, to see how they fared. Along with our national analysis, we've also examined our users' 5G 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 report that analyzes the overall experience of users, i.e. when they are connected to all network access technologies in Canada.
5G Experience
National Analysis
Rogers retains its outright win for 5G Video Experience with a score of 77.9 points on a 100-point scale. Telus and Bell come in second and third place, respectively.
All operators place at the top end of the Very Good (68-78) category. A Very Good rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users' real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. 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 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network 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.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G 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 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Bell is once again the winner of the 5G Download Speed award. Our users on Bell’s network have average 5G download speeds of 186.1Mbps, comfortably ahead of second-placed Telus and third-placed Rogers. However, Bell's lead has diminished slightly due to its score dropping by 10Mbps while Telus’ dropped by 4Mbps.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Rogers takes home the gold for 5G Upload Speed, an award it has won outright six consecutive times. Rogers’ score of 30.1Mbps gives it a sizable lead of 7Mbps over Bell and 8Mbps over Telus.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Canada, 5G Experience Report, August 2024
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Coverage
National Analysis
Telus and Bell remain the joint winners of the 5G Coverage Experience award. Their identical scores of 5.68 points on a 10-point scale place them two points ahead of Rogers. Scores on all three operators rose by one point.
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.
5G Coverage Experience shows the proportion of places Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
National Analysis
The proportion of time that our 5G users spend with a 5G connection — 5G Availability — has increased on all three operators. Rogers wins the award outright for the third time in a row, this time with a score of 11.2%. Bell and Telus are not far behind, statistically tying for second place.
Rogers’ lead has shrunk since the last report as users on both Bell and Telus observed larger improvements — Bell's and Telus’ scores increased by two percentage points, while Rogers' score increased by one percentage point.
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.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Canada, 5G Experience Report, August 2024
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A-I
- Alberta
- Atlantic provinces
- British Columbia
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J-R
- Manitoba
- Ontario
- Quebec
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S-Z
- Saskatchewan
in Alberta
in Alberta
in Atlantic provinces
in Atlantic provinces
in British Columbia
in British Columbia
in Manitoba
in Manitoba
in Ontario
in Ontario
in Quebec
in Quebec
in Saskatchewan
in Saskatchewan
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