Current trends - methodology

Broadband service availability: methodology

Broadband service availability is calculated using information provided by ISPs. For 2013 to 2015, locations were considered to be serviced if their dissemination block^{Footnote 1} representative point fell within an area of broadband service coverage. As of 2016, ISED pseudo-households^{Footnote 2} are used, along with 2016 census demography. Thus, among other factors, newer, more accurate information about the extent of deployment may have slightly reduced coverage in some areas.

Broadband service availability data may not take into account capacity issues or issues regarding line of sight^{Footnote 3}.

Mobile service availability: methodology

Between 2013 and 2017, locations were considered to be serviced if the representative point for their dissemination block fell within an area of mobile service coverage.

Since 2018, ISED pseudo-households were used along with 2016 census demography. Pseudo-households are points representing the population in an area. These points are placed along roadways within each area, and the population of the area, as determined by Statistics Canada, is distributed among these points. Additional data regarding addresses and the position of dwellings is used to guide this distribution. The use of pseudo-households aims to improve the accuracy of the availability indicators rather than making an assumption that the population within an area is located at the centre of that area.

Official language minority communities

To identify official language minority communities (OLMCs) in Canada, a number of different criteria can be used. These include identifying the first language learned at home, the language spoken at home, and the language of education.

For the purposes of this report, the official language minority population is defined in terms of the first official language spoken metric as defined within the Official Languages Act, using data from the 2016 Census. In all provinces and territories except Quebec, the official language having minority status is French.

The presence of official language minority populations within a 25km area of an official minority language school was used to model and map OLMCs.

As a means of mapping OLMCs and calculating the availability of 50/10 Mbps unlimited service, a method of OLMC population placement was chosen that concentrates on areas within 25 km of official language minority schools to represent the locations of the communities. This methodology, which was developed by Canadian Heritage, was used to assign OLMC populations to areas and to calculate 50/10 Mbps unlimited availability to OLMC communities.

First Nations reserve areas

The analysis of broadband availability and availability of 50/10 Mbps unlimited service was based upon First Nations reserve areas, representing total population and dwellings on reserves according to the Statistics Canada census data and, as such, it may differ from other official sources.

Statistics Canada uses census subdivisions to represent different areas in Canada. Census subdivisions are municipalities or areas that can be equated to municipalities for statistical purposes.

The different census subdivisions used by Statistics Canada were assessed. Those that represent First Nations reserve areas were used in the data analysis and mapping of this population.

Top 3 mobile service providers

The Top 3 refers to Bell (Bell Group), Telus and Rogers; this includes the statistics of the flanker brands even where the Top 3 and their flanker brands are reported side by side for comparison. Flanker information has also been reported, where available, to allow more granular comparison with the other providers and report potential trends when viewed through a competitive lens. Approximately 1% of the flanker brand information contains data from a company not included in the Top 3.

Population areas

Small population centres are considered to have populations of between 1,000 and 29,999. Medium population centres are considered to have populations of between 30,000 and 99,999. Large population centres are considered to have populations greater than 100,000. Rural areas have populations of less than 1,000, or fewer than 400 people per square kilometre.

Urban centres and rural communities

Urban centres, also known as small/medium/large population centres, are defined as follows: small centres have populations between 1,000 and 29,999, medium centres have populations between 30,000 and 99,999, and large centres have populations greater than 100,000.

Rural communities are defined as areas with a population of less than 1,000 or a density of 400 or fewer people per square kilometre.

Definitions

Average capital expenditure per user (ACEPU) is a measure of the expenditures generated per subscriber. It is computed by using only data from companies who supplied both capital expenditure and subscriber data, excluding spectrum expenditures. An end-of-year subscriber figure was used in the computation rather than an average number of subscribers during the year.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) is a measure of revenue generated per subscriber. For annual data, this is calculated by dividing the whole-year total revenue by the average number of subscribers from the current and previous year. The number of subscribers is taken from year end data. For quarterly data, this is calculated by by dividing the quarter’s revenues by the number of subscribers in that quarter, and generating a monthly statistic.

Cable-based carriers are former cable monopolies that also provide telecommunications services (e.g. wireline voice, Internet, data and private line, and wireless services). Examples of cable-based carriers include Rogers, Shaw, and Videotron.

A dissemination block is an area bounded on all sides by roads and/or boundaries of standard geographic areas. The dissemination block is the smallest geographic area for which population and dwelling counts are disseminated. Dissemination blocks cover all the territory of Canada.

The estimated number of households in Canada is calculated by dividing the 4th quarter population estimate for Canada by Statistics Canada by the population to dwelling ratio. In turn, the population to dwelling ratio is calculated by dividing the population of Canada by the number of households found in the Statistics Canada Census 2016.

Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) refers to fibre optic communication delivery system where fibre extends from a concentrator, remote or central office to a residence.

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) is the equivalent of FTTH but refers to fibre extending to a business instead of a residence.

Flanker brands are brands introduced into the wireless market by an entity that already has a well-established main brand. In the Canadian market, these include brands such as Virgin Mobile and Lucky Mobile (Bell), Fido and Chatr (Rogers), Koodo and Public Mobile (TELUS), and Fizz (Vidéotron). Starting in 2019, Fizz was added to the list of flankers and therefore, this category is no longer referred to as “Top 3’s flanker brands.”

HSPA, HSPA+, LTE , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G: High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Long-Term Evolution (LTE ) are the protocols or standards used for communications between a mobile phone and cell towers in mobile networks. HSPA is also referred to as 3G (third generation) cellular while LTE is referred to a 4G (fourth generation) cellular. HSPA+, or evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is a form of HSPA that uses technical measures to provide faster transmission speeds. LTE is the current standard that is now widely deployed in most mobile networks, while LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) is an enhancement of the LTE standard. 5G (NR) New Radio is a new radio access technology (RAT) that is referred to as the fifth generation. These networks promise to deliver significantly faster speeds, lower latency, and gains in spectral efficiency than prior generational networks, among other benefits.

An Incumbent Telecommunications Service Provider (TSP) is a company that provides local telecommunications services on a monopoly basis prior to the introduction of competition. Examples of incumbent TSPs include Bell, SaskTel and TELUS. They also include small incumbent TSPs such as Sogetel and Execulink.

An independent Internet service provider (ISP) refers to ISPs that are not cable-based carriers or incumbent TSPs.

Major transportation roads were defined by the Commission in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2018-377 as roads that correspond to Statistics Canada’s street rank codes 1 through 3.

Official Language Minority Population refers to English speaking population in Quebec and French-speaking population in the rest of Canada. More than two million Canadians belong to an official language minority community.

Other facilities-based carriers refers to providers of telecommunications services that are not incumbent providers but which own and operate telecommunications networks. Examples of other facilities-based carriers include Xplornet and Allstream Business.

Other service providers include SaskTel, other small incumbent TSPs (telecommunications service providers), certain resellers, and the remaining new entrants (Freedom Mobile, Videotron (including its flanker brand) and Bragg Communications [Eastlink]) and their applicable subsidiaries.

Pseudo-households refers to points representing the population in an area. These points are placed along roadways within each area, and the population of the area, determined by Statistics Canada, is distributed among these points. Additional data regarding addresses and the position of dwellings is used to guide this distribution.

The use of pseudo-households aims to improve the accuracy of the availability indicators over the use of the assumption that the population within an area is located at the centre of the area.

The top three mobile service providers (Top 3), in terms of revenues and subscribers, consists of the Bell Group, Rogers and TELUS. The Bell Group includes Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, Bell MTS, KMTS, Latitude Wireless, NorthernTel Limited Partnership, Northwestel Mobility and Télébec, Limited Partnership. In 2017, MTS Inc.’s figures were included with those of the Bell Group. In 2015, Data & Audio Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc.’s (i.e. Mobilicity, which then became Chatr) figures were included with those of Rogers. From 2013 on, Public Mobile’s figures were included with those of TELUS. Throughout this section, the flanker brands are a subset of the Top 3, unless otherwise stated.

Wholesale-based service providers or non-facilities-based service carriers refers to companies that generally acquire telecommunications services from other providers and either resell those services or create their own network from which to provide services to their customers. A company that owns a small number of facilities but has the vast majority of its operations on leased facilities may also be classified as non-facilities-based. Examples of wholesale-based service providers and non-facilities-based carriers include Distributel and TekSavvy.

A reserve refers to land set aside by the federal government through the Indian Act or through treaties for the use of a specific band or First Nation. The band council has "exclusive user rights" to the land, but the land is "owned" by the Crown. The Indian Act states that this land cannot be owned by individual band members.