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0 pointsniij5y ago0 comments

Surely population density plays a huge role in the relatively lower coverage of both US and Canada compared to Europe.

Switzerland: 206/sqkm Germany: 240/sqkm Eurozone as a whole: ~100/sqkm Canada: ~4/sqkm USA: 35/sqkm

0 comments

Canada's population density figure is deceptively low because most of Canada's landmass is completely uninhabited. Most of the Canadian far north has an even lower population density than the Sahara desert.

Canada's population is tightly clustered into a small number of urban areas that have population densities comparable to places like Philadelphia or Vienna.

Despite this, Canada's population centers have nowhere near the quality of public infrastructure of Vienna.

dbetteridge5y ago

This is all accurate, but people still expect reception and speed when travelling between those dense population centres by road or rail.

Much like Australia, this means providers build the infrastructure to supply those areas but then the cost is recovered from the dense population areas.

Theres also some capatilism nonsense oligopolies thrown in there, but that's the core issue.

gruez5y ago

> This is all accurate, but people still expect reception and speed when travelling between those dense population centres by road or rail.

Why doesn't the consumer have a choice? I'd be willing to sacrifice coverage in rural areas in exchange for 50-80% discounted tariffs, for instance.

2 more replies

908B64B1975y ago

Isn't more than half the population something like < 100 miles from the US border?

I've always wondered why no big international player tried to enter that market, it's ripe for disruption, and the local operators sound like they are far behind.

smcl5y ago

The key phrase in the comment you're replying to is "in the few percent of the territory that’s covered". The vast majority of the Canadian population live in highly urbanised pockets.

niijOP5y ago

They do, but they want reception outside of those densely urbanized pockets. They want reception on the highways between the cities, at their lake house, or if they live in a rural area. The denser population subscribers still pay for the infrastructure in low-density areas.

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