Fastest 5G Download Speeds in Canada Go to Bell, Test Shows

According to Ookla, Canada’s median download speed over 5G was found to be 205.3% faster than that over 4G during Q4 2020.

5g canada speeds

The report found Bell to be the fastest operator for 5G in Canada in Q4 2020, with a median download speed of 228.99 Mbps. Telus was a close second with median speed of 220.31 Mbps, as the latter shares towers with Bell.

Rogers was in third place with 129.82 Mbps download speeds, lagging behind its rivals, but did have the highest time spent on 5G in Canada.

Telus had the second-highest 5G Time Spent in Canada at 21.0% and Bell was third at 12.7%.

The report also notes that British Columbia has the largest number of cities with commercially available 5G deployments in Canada, as of February 2, 2021, with Ontario second and Alberta third:

Alberta had the highest percentage of 5G Time Spent among Canadian provinces with sufficient samples during Q4 2020.

Analysis of median 5G download speed in Canada’s largest municipalities found that Montréal was the fastest during Q4 2020. Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa formed the group of next fastest cities, followed by Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver.

Canada’s upcoming spectrum auction is expected to unlock a significant amount of bandwidth in the 3.5 GHz range for 5G, which should deliver even greater mobile download speeds, when new networks are finally built, a timeline that could be still years away.

Bell has been facing some public scrutiny this month, as the company has axed hundreds of media jobs, while the discovery of the company taking federal COVID-19 wage subsidies to the tune of $122 million, which have been used to help hike dividends for shareholders.

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