Alberta’s broadband availability as of 2019 is shown in Table 1. As the table demonstrates, practically the entire province (99.7%) has access, at least minimally, to 5 Mbps download speed. The percentage of Albertans able to access the current acceptable standard for high-speed internet — 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload — is 87.8%. This is slightly higher than the Canadian average of 87.4%.


Table 1 6. Broadband Availability in Alberta by Download Speed, 2019 per CRTC Communications Monitoring Report 2020


Download Speed
(Megabits per second)

Availability
(Percentage of Households)

5.0 - 24.9

99.7

25.0-49.9 

98.6

50.0-99.9

94.7

50/10 & Unlimited Data Transfer

87.8

100.0 – 999.9 +

83.6

1,000 (Gigabit)

33.5


Source: Prepared by Cybera using data from 2020 CRTC Communications Monitoring Report. These figures exclude satellite technologies.


However, accurately assessing the current state of broadband services in Alberta is difficult, not least because it is a constantly moving target. Internet Service Providers are often reluctant to give out accurate figures of actual service delivery throughout their service area. Using their advertised services gives an idea of service availability, but in rural areas, this ideal scenario rarely plays out in reality.

Determining accurate broadband speeds for Alberta: the Sturgeon County case study




References

6CRTC. Communications Monitoring Report - 2020, Table 4.2, p. 107. Accessed 01 January 2021.