Internet Service in British Columbia.
Located below the Yukon province, British Columbia lies in western Canada and is anchored by it's most populous city, Vancouver - also the economic powerhouse of the province. Victoria (across the sound from Vancouver) is the governmental capital of the province. In a 2012 Canadian Internet Use Survey, British Columbia (along with Alberta) was recognized as one of of two provinces in Canada with the greatest percentage of its citizens having Internet access (86%). This was actually up two percentage points from 2010 when the study was conducted previously.
Even though this 2012 survey found the province as a whole to have a high rate of Internet access, the SPEEDS which many BC'ers access the Internet has been found to be lacking according to a more recent (2016) report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. This report found Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey lagging behind Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa when it comes to Internet speeds.
Source: (http://www.news1130.com/2016/04/28/bc-lags-behind-when-it-comes-to-internet-performance-report/)
Looking at previous Internet usage/access statistics within the province, one sees steady growth in Internet access in Vancouver, Victoria and throughout British Columbia. In 2005 69.3% of British Columbians could access the Internet from one or more locations (including home, work, library, school or "other"). That number was up to 77.6% in 2007 and had grown to 85.4% by 2009. Breaking down the sub-categories of Internet access in the province over the same time periods, Home Internet Access grew from 63.3% a huge 20 points up to 83.0%, Internet access from places of employment grew from 25.0% to 35.6% and, lagging behind other sub-categories, Internet access within schools only grew from 11.3% up to 15.3% from 2005 to 2009.
Source: “Statistics Canada” from Government of Canada (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/comm36g-eng.htm)
The largest Internet Providers offering service in British Columbia are: TekSavvy, Montreal-DSL, Primus, Shaw and Telus. These are all centered around the Vancouver population center. When you consider also Victoria, you also find Comwave and Eastlink. Bell Mobility provides mobile broadband Internet access (LTE and 3G/4G) through many, more rural portions of British Columbia.
Top Cities in British Columbia.
City | Providers |
---|---|
Vancouver, BC | 27 |
Surrey, BC | 23 |
Victoria, BC | 17 |
Burnaby, BC | 23 |
Richmond, BC | 24 |
Kelowna, BC | 18 |
Abbotsford, BC | 19 |
Coquitlam, BC | 22 |
Saanich, BC | 10 |
Delta, BC | 14 |