CIRA finds Canada’s rural broadband speeds are up 50%

A new report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s (CIRA) shows that rural broadband speeds have increased 50% since the start of the pandemic.

In its May report, CIRA said “In April, median rural download speeds were measured at 3.78 Mbps”; the latest report, issued earlier today says “In July, median rural download speeds were measured at 5.62 Mbps”.

That is an increase of 50%.

Why then is CIRA characterizing this dramatic improvement as “Since the pandemic began, median download speeds have plateaued around 5.5 Mbps for rural internet users”?