GATINEAU
– While seven in ten Canadians say that they are satisfied with the
speed and reliability of their home Internet service, only one in
three report being happy with the cost, according to a public
opinion research report unveiled Wednesday by the CRTC.
The
EKOS Research Associates report,
prepared for the CRTC, comes two weeks before the Commission kicks
off the public hearing related to its review
of basic telecommunication services. The
first part of the report presents results gathered through a
questionnaire that was completed by more than 30,000 Canadians, and
EKOS said that it also administered the questionnaire with a separate
sample group of over 1,600 Canadians representative of the population
as a whole. The second part of the report presents information
gathered through focus groups held in small communities which have
limited or no access to broadband Internet services.
Other highlights from the report include:
- Canadians’ online activities have increased dramatically over the
past five years. Most have increased by 50% and some doubled;
- Emailing, reading news online, researching medical information,
banking and interacting with government websites are Canadians’ top
five online activities;
- More than half of Canadians report using their home Internet
connection more frequently than their mobile phone and home phone
services. Also, they expect to still be using mostly their home
Internet connection five years from now;
- Two in three Canadians believe that prices in rural and remote
areas within Canada should compare with prices in urban areas for
telecommunications services; and
- One in five Canadians have limited their use of the Internet in the
past 12 months for various reasons.
“Access
to basic telecommunications services is crucial for Canadians to
actively participate in the digital economy”, said CRTC chairman
and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais, in a statement. “Since the launch
of this consultation, we have been researching and analyzing the vast
amount of information submitted. Canadians have risen to the occasion
and have been participating in great numbers.”
The public hearing on these issues is scheduled for April 11 to 29,
2016, in the National Capital Region.
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