Canada’s first 5G wi-fi community arrived in 2020, however a self-proclaimed “cellphone restore man” claims in a video that there aren’t any such cell networks within the nation — and that there aren’t any smartphones offered with the know-how. That is false; unbiased third-party assessments present Canadian carriers and telephones ship wi-fi speeds much like these in different main international locations.
“There is no single cellphone in Canada that helps 5G,” says the speaker in a September 202023 TikTok video that additionally circulated on Fb. “There’s not a single provider in Canada that helps 5G.”
Textual content over the video says: “THE 5G SCAM … $200 further charging for 5G and it is not even there.”
The speaker isn’t seen however says: “I repair telephones daily.” The clip reveals two disassembled smartphones with empty slots the place 5G chips supposedly belong. The identical footage additionally unfold on X, YouTube, BitChute, Rumble and Instagram.
Deployment of 5G — the quicker, fifth-generation cell broadband system that makes it simpler to browse, stream and switch knowledge — started in 2018 in america and shortly after in Europe.
In Canada, Rogers Communications rolled out 5G to main cities in 2020, adopted by different carriers, opposite to claims on social media.
Koen Johnson of Winnipeg informed AFP the clip at present circulating stems from a section he made for YouTube in June 2021 (archived right here). AFP was capable of establish Johnson by looking for the title of the restore store talked about within the video.
Johnson stated he “completely” stands by his rivalry that 5G isn’t obtainable in Canada greater than two years after he made the video, regardless of the rollout by carriers.
“It is 5G speeds however not 5G frequency,” he stated in a cellphone interview October 5. “It is nonetheless 4G being sped up. They renamed it 5G as a result of it is higher for advertising and marketing.”
Johnson stated he has disassembled and examined Samsung smartphones and believes these offered in Canada lack chips wanted for true 5G. He stated he has not carried out the identical for iPhones.
Unbiased evaluations
Nevertheless, a number of third-party organizations have verified that Canada has a strong 5G community, though availability and speeds differ.
A February 2023 report from the know-how consultancy Opensignal discovered common obtain speeds of 158.7 Mbps for Bell, appropriate for video streaming, video games and different makes use of (archived right here).
A separate Opensignal report in June 2023 put Canada in the course of the pack by way of add and obtain speeds, whereas noting 5G connections have been obtainable solely about 10 p.c of the time — a fee much like the UK however decrease than america (archived right here).
One other agency, Ookla, discovered median cell obtain speeds of 75.47 Mbps in August 2023, properly forward of the worldwide 2018 common of twenty-two.82 Mbps (archived right here). The take a look at additionally discovered obtain speeds of greater than 100 Mbps for Apple and Samsung smartphones in 2023.
Apple says on its web site that every one handsets beginning with the iPhone 12 help 5G if they’re linked to a provider utilizing the know-how. Samsung and Google Pixel units also can hook up with 5G in Canada, in keeping with the producers.
Checks carried out by PC Journal in mid-2022 discovered strong 5G speeds in Toronto for all carriers following community upgrades.
Due to its means to shortly ship knowledge, 5G is predicted to create appreciable financial advantages in Canada.
“As these deployments scale, and Canada will get nearer to nationwide 5G protection, the estimated financial influence of 5G deployment in Canada will attain $40 billion of annual GDP uplift by 2026, with 250,000 everlasting jobs added to the economic system in the identical timeframe,” says an Accenture report ready in March 2023 for the Canadian Wi-fi Telecommunications Affiliation.
In 2022, Canada ranked among the many most costly international locations for wi-fi service.
AFP has fact-checked different claims about 5G wi-fi know-how right here.
