High-Speed Versus Dial-up

The second face of the tier two digital divide is the substantively different level of access enjoyed by those households with high-speed Internet service in relation to those who rely on slower, less efficient dial-up. The quick uptake of high-speed household access options, despite their higher average cost, is clear evidence of the greater value attributed to broadband access.

In a matter of only a few years, high-speed Internet has assumed dominance on the home Internet access landscape, unseating dial-up as the principle way in which Canadians experience the Internet at home. In fact, households with high-speed Internet access now outnumber those without home access for the first time [Figure 11].

• 38 per cent of households report having high-speed access;
• 26 per cent of households report having dial-up access;
• 3 per cent of households were unable to identify their type of access; and
• 33 per cent of households report having no home access.

Similar to Internet usage trends, low income, blue-collar employees (those least likely to have access at work) and seniors/retirees are falling behind, being both less likely to have household access and less likely to have high-speed access at home. The high-speed versus dial-up access divide is most sharply felt in rural Canada. While urban households largely have the option to subscribe to high-speed access, the home access subscription options for many rural households are restricted to slower, less efficient dial-up access.