Forty-five per cent of business leaders cite higher operational costs resulting from outages, as well as operational inefficiencies (41 per cent) and loss of talent (36 per cent)
Toronto, Canada — April 11, 2024 — Cradlepoint, part of Ericsson, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network and security solutions, today announced findings from its 2024 State of Connectivity in Canada report which found 92 per cent of Canadians rate the overall reliability of their organization's network connectivity as good or very good. However, downtime continues to be a concern for Canadian businesses, with 53 per cent of respondents saying they experienced one to two hours of connectivity downtime per week on average in the last 12 months, due to fixed line/fibre network failure. Twenty-eight per cent indicated they experienced three to four hours of downtime per week.
The survey, which was conducted by Censuswide, indicates these outages have affected productivity and the ability for organizations to be competitive. Specific impacts cited by business leaders include higher operational costs (45 per cent), operational inefficiencies (41 per cent), and loss of talent (36 per cent). Looking ahead, respondents indicated key investment areas for private and public Canadian organizations should address the advancement of connectivity including stronger security (43 per cent), improved reliability of communication networks (40 per cent) and faster roll-out of 5G/advanced wireless networks to rural areas (38 per cent).
“Canadian organizations — no matter their size — rely on dependable connections to conduct business, and this year’s report is a key indicator of the issues and areas they should be considering as we look ahead,” said Jason Falovo, vice president and general manager, Canada at Cradlepoint. “While we continue to see 5G playing an important role in how businesses connect and compete, we also see how other areas are having an impact, such as security and sustainability. It’s important now more than ever that business leaders assess their strategies, work with the right technology partners, and ensure they’re planning for secure, reliable connections across their networks.”
Improving connectivity is on the minds of many business leaders. Looking ahead over the course of 12 months, 25 per cent of respondents expect their business revenue to grow by 10 to 14 per cent as a direct result of improved connectivity.
Coach Atlantic is the largest motorcoach transportation provider in Atlantic Canada, and leverages Cradlepoint's expertise and technology. “Reliable connectivity has become paramount to our business,” said Ryan Cassidy, Director of People & Processes at Coach Atlantic. “Our riders expect nothing less than top-notch service from our drivers and the amenities we offer. To ensure we provide our customers with stable internet access, we continue to improve wireless technology across the fleet. With our most recent update, we also simplified processes for our drivers and staff, ensuring they can focus on their jobs and not have to worry about internet connectivity on the bus. We want our customers to enjoy their journey and travel with us again.”
Respondents see the value 5G will bring to their organization, especially as it advances the competitiveness of Canadian businesses. Thirty-nine per cent of respondents indicated 5G will improve security; 38 per cent said it will offer expansion opportunities for business; and 37 per cent said it will improve bandwidth. Another 37 per cent said it will play a major role in infrastructure and transport.
While many organizations are already taking advantage of the benefits of 5G networks, it continues to be a focus for the government and service providers. With the Federal government’s plan to offer local licensing, there will be easier access to 5G spectrum for small Internet service providers and innovative industries as well as rural, remote and Indigenous communities — specifically, 80 MHz of mid-band spectrum at 3900-3980 MHz for local shared and private 5G networks, and portions of the mmWave bands for local use. Three quarters of Canadian organizations (73 per cent) indicated they are planning for this.
However, for some businesses, hurdles related to investing in 5G connectivity solutions remain. The top barriers reported by business leaders include complexity of change (30 per cent); perception of costs (27 per cent); concerns over the ability to secure connectivity across the enterprise (27 per cent); and 5G not being offered by a mobile carrier (27 per cent).
While security is always top of mind, as Canadian organizations leverage 5G and invest in new technologies such as IoT, it’s becoming even more important to combat bad actors who are developing new tactics and ways to compromise businesses. Over the last 12 months, 27 per cent of respondents said their business had been subject to a network security attack. Of those, 28 per cent indicated it was a major security breach that resulted in the loss of data.
Of those respondents who indicated their organization suffered an attack:
Business leaders also indicated there is a gap in knowledge of some areas of their network. Seventeen (17) per cent of respondents said their network security had been breached as the result of a hacked IoT device, however almost nine out of 10 (89 per cent) were unsure of the number of IoT devices that were already deployed or are planned to be deployed in their organization in the next 12 months and beyond.
Additional findings:
The full 2024 State of Connectivity Report for Canada can be found here.
The State of Connectivity report has been developed based on the findings of Censuswide research of over 500 respondents across various industries in Canada. Respondents were technology decision makers at senior management level and above at medium/large businesses (250+ employees).
The industries researched in this report include the following: Architecture, Engineering and Building; Education; Finance; Healthcare; HR; IT and Telecoms; Legal; Leisure and Hospitality; Manufacturing; Retail; Sales, Media and Marketing; Transportation and Logistics; Central Government; Local Government (including Public Transportation Services); Charity/Third Sector; and Emergency Services.
Cradlepoint enables the freedom to connect people, places, and things that drive more experiences, more ways to work, and better business results — anywhere. The company is a pioneer in Wireless WAN, offering advanced 4G and 5G routers and adapters — controlled through Cradlepoint NetCloudTM. Enterprise businesses and public sector agencies rely on Cradlepoint and its Cellular Intelligence to build a reliable, secure network wherever they need it, connecting fixed and temporary sites, vehicles, IoT devices, and remote employees. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Cradlepoint is wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and part of their Business Area Enterprise Wireless Solutions. It has international offices in Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, India, and Latin America. www.cradlepoint.com.
