Bell is first and Rogers ranks last in Netflix‘s first Canadian comparison of connection speeds.
Speed is often at the heart of marketing campaigns for Canada’s internet providers, which have jockeyed for years to position themselves as having the fastest access.
Online video is often used as a benchmark to demonstrate this speed in advertising. A recent report from Media Technology Monitor (which polled a sample of 4,009 Anglophones, claiming accuracy 19 times out of 20) showed 76% of Anglophones over the age of 18 watch some form of online video. Eighty-three per cent of that group did so on a desktop computer, the report said.
Netflix said users accessing its service through Bell’s fibre optic network in April had an average speed of 3.19 megabits per second (Mbps), while Rogers’ average speed was just 1.67 Mbps, according to the streaming company.
Canada ISP speed index (Netflix)
The overall average speed across all Canadian ISPs was 2.52 Mbps, which was faster than what American users got but slower than the average connections of most European countries.
The average U.S. speed was 2.33 Mbps while it was 3.49 Mbps in the Netherlands, 3.21 Mbps in Sweden and 3.167 Mbps in Denmark.
This marks the first time Canada has been included in the online video provider’s monthly measurements.
“Perhaps not surprisingly, the fiber services from Bell Aliant and Bell Canada top the chart, closely followed by cable provider Shaw. As a country, the average speed for Netflix in Canada beats that of the United States, but ranks below most European nations,” the company said via its blog.
“The listed speeds reflect the average performance of all Netflix streams on each ISP’s network and are an indicator of the performance typically experienced across all users on an ISP network. A faster network generally means a better picture quality, quicker start times and fewer interruptions.”
Neither Rogers and Netflix have responded to requests for comment.
