THUNDER BAY – For surfing the Internet, speed is critical. The faster the Internet the more you can do. High-Speed Internet is increasingly important for both home and business. In fact in today’s increasingly knowledge-based economy, often the line can blur between home and business. People can, in effect work from where ever they are.
Increasingly, Internet connections for video, television, and radio signals are becoming the norm. By 2013, video will account for approximately 2/3 of all global Internet traffic including mobile phones! For NetNewsledger.com our HD Livestream+© broadcasting is expanding and faster Internet can fuel the rate of that growth.
In Manitoba, MTS is announcing its new and faster Internet service. MTS states that its high-speed Internet service just got faster with three new consumer plans: MTS FiON® Lightning 50, MTS FiON® Lightning 100, and MTS FiON® Lightning 250.
“Our new FiON Lightning high-speed Internet plans offer some of the fastest speeds in Manitoba,” said MTS President Kelvin Shepherd. “And with free wireless home networking included, these plans are ideal for households that have several family members online at the same time using different devices”.
The new high-speed offered by MTS bring the service in line with the Internet offerings from Shaw, who have already offered 250mps Internet. However, the upload speeds for the new MTS service are, at 30mps double that of Shaw’s service.
How fast is your Internet?
You can test your Internet Speed at www.speedtest.net. Speedtest.net puts the most sophisticated broadband testing and analysis tools into the hands of anyone interested in finding out just how connected they actually are. This free service from Ookla opens hundreds of testing locations around the world to anyone curious about the performance of their Internet connection.
Your Internet Browser can also impact how fast your Internet can run. Here is a test comparison between Internet Explorer 9 compared to Google Chrome. As you will see, faster also can be determined by your browser.
To download Google Chrome, click here.
Canadian Internet speeds have climbed over recent years. However, they are still not at the rates of speed in Asia as an example. KDDI, a Japanese telecommunications company, offers 1Gbps fiber-optic https://www.speedcheck.org/. KDDI charges ¥5,460 (US$51.40) for the service.
Prices for the MTS service is $280 per month. Shaw charges $115 per month for its highest speed Internet service. In Thunder Bay, Tbaytel offers Thunder Bay High-Speed Max with 25mps service from $44.95 per month if the customer is signed up for Tbaytel’s digital television service.
MTS states, “The MTS FiON Network is one of Canada’s most advanced fibre optic networks. MTS is investing $125 million over several years to deploy this fibre-to-the-home network to 120,000 homes in Manitoba. Since 2010, MTS has launched the MTS FiON Network in Selkirk, Steinbach, Dauphin, Thompson, The Pas, Neepawa, Carberry, select areas of Winnipeg, and will be coming soon to Minnedosa and Killarney”.
Working with Bell, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) is developing a fibre optic network for northern communities. The NAN Broadband Project will offer greater access and speed for NAN communities. Faster Internet allows for more online services to be delivered, greater opportunities for education, distance learning, and medical treatment.
