Recently, Ookla unveiled its latest global assessment, titled A Global Reality Check on 5G SA and 5G Advanced in 2026. This report scrutinizes the state of 5G Standalone (SA) technology worldwide.
Although Canada did not feature prominently in Ookla’s global report this year, specific data, garnered upon request by iPhone in Canada, underscores the nation’s position amid the critical transition to 5G SA technology.
By the conclusion of 2025, Canada’s share of 5G SA reached an impressive 8.8%, securing the second position among G7 countries.
The United States outpaces the G7 with a commanding 31.6% share. Canada’s 8.8% surpasses various international counterparts, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and France. Notably, at the start of 2023, Canada’s SA share was a mere 0.15%.
The remarkable ascent to 8.8% by the fourth quarter of 2025 is indicative of sustained quarterly increments in standalone network traffic.
Technical Performance: SA vs. NSA in Canada
The transition from 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) to Standalone (SA) entails migrating mobile signals to a specialized 5G core. An Ookla spokesperson revealed that this pivotal transition manifests as a discernible enhancement in network performance for users in Canada.
In Q4 2025, median download speeds on SA networks soared to 204 Mbps, in stark contrast to 125 Mbps on NSA networks—a striking 64% disparity. Latency also improved significantly, plummeting from 38.7 ms on NSA to 27.8 ms on SA.
These statistics elucidate that, despite a modest contingent of the Canadian market currently accessing Standalone technology, users connected to it enjoy superior speeds and diminished lag.
Major telecommunications providers—Rogers, Telus, and Bell—are migrating towards 5G+, which amalgamates the 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz mid-band spectrum to facilitate swifter, more dependable, and proficient 5G speeds, particularly in high-density locales.
While Canada’s 5G+ networks utilize mid-band spectrum to strike a balance between speed and coverage, they lack the multi-gigabit prowess of mmWave observed in the United States and South Korea.
This limitation arises from the fact that ISED has yet to auction the 26 GHz and 38 GHz bands, thereby depriving Canadian carriers of the high-frequency spectrum requisite for achieving 10 Gbps speeds in concentrated areas like stadiums.
Consequently, manufacturers like Apple have, at times, created two distinct iPhone models specifically for the Canadian and U.S. markets.
Global Context and Adoption Rates
Narratively, North America stands at the forefront of the burgeoning 5G Standalone (SA) adoption, with its regional share escalating from 8.2% to nearly 30% over the past two years.
This momentum is predominantly fueled by the United States, where all three major carriers have established nationwide standalone frameworks.
Conversely, China maintains a formidable global presence with an overwhelming 80.9% SA share, while the Middle East excels in performance with median download speeds averaging 1.13 Gbps.
In stark contrast, Europe lags significantly, possessing a mere 2.8% SA share, trailing North America by 27 percentage points.
Canada’s current 8.8% share is commendable within the G7 context, albeit it accounts for just a small fragment of the overarching 5G user demographic.
As an increasing number of devices and network sites are modernized to support the standalone core, this percentage is anticipated to grow, thereby enhancing the overall Canadian mobile experience.
Source link: Iphoneincanada.ca.
