Canada

It appears that even with the progresses we’ve had in Canada when it comes to the internet that some are still behind.

A quarter million of Canadian internet users still use dial-up according to the Convergence Consulting Group, a large percentage of which are in rural areas according to the CRTC. And of those who subscribe to high speed, only 52% have the necessary speed to download standard definition films.

Though 77% of Canadians are able to access services that are fast enough to stream high definition video content according to the Broadband Report, only 2% use these services. And it is obvious that it is because these services are prohibitively expensive that more Canadians are not subscribed.

Usage based billing has kept most Canadians from using these services to rent and purchase films online. And though the taxpayer is responsible for most of the infrastructure, we are still being told to pay more.

Perhaps the rates might go down once the spectrum management issues are resolved at the CRTC, which could result in the introduction “Super Wifi” into Canada’s major urban centers.

Unfortunately this wireless service could have issues in communities where analog television broadcasts still exist and digital television broadcasts are only mandatory in the major city centers.

The technology is also in its infancy, having only just been introduced in the United States in Wilmington, North Carolina.