Internet Performance Map Coming to Pictou

The Internet Performance Test can be found at  https://performance.cira.ca/pictou and will provide the basis for network planning.

The Municipality of Pictou County has been chosen as one of the only rural areas in Canada to apply a new way of recording internet performance at a household and business level.

“The use of broadband communication is fundamental to improve our economic, environmental and social well-being,” said Brian Cullen, CAO for Pictou County.   “Broadband linkages create the ability to stimulate growth in business, environmental and social programs.  We are running this test to gather solid data for network planning purposes.”

Called an Internet Performance Test, the analysis is conducted by i-Valley and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).  i-Valley is Pictou’s partner in the planning of a new broadband network, and CIRA is the non-profit agency that manages the .ca country code domain registry that helps build, deploy and manage technology to support initiatives to build smart communities.  Both i-Valley and CIRA are dedicated to creating “Smart” rural regions  --  places able to use fast networks to achieve higher incomes and economic stability.

“The heat map is calibrated to provide information that is community-specific to Pictou County,” said Mr. Cullen.  “People in their home or business just click on a URL and launch the test, which only takes 30 seconds. Within that time, the test analyzes more than 100 variables that range from speed to quality  -  all the factors that could be slowing you down or affecting the reliability of your service.”

The IPT results are displayed for everyone on a map of the District, colour-coded to highlight service quality.  A red zone is poor; a blue zone is good.  The IPT ranges from zero to the new national speed goal of 50 Megabits per second (Mbps). 

“The slower the speed drops below 25 Mbps the redder the map gets; the faster the speed the bluer it gets,” added Mr. Cullen.

Those without any Internet connection can go to a connected facility, browse to the Pictou IPT Web site, and click on “If you wish to inform us of a location without internet access, click here.”.   They will then have the opportunity to place a pin on the map.

The tests are location-specific, registering each house or business as the buttons are pressed.  People are encouraged to take the test as many times as possible, as speed results may vary over times of day.

“What makes the CIRA test better than most speed tests is that it's not run on servers located directly on the backbone of your Internet Service Provider's network but on vendor-neutral test servers,” stated Terry Dalton, President of i-Valley.  “It will show us the real condition of the network.”

In addition to being a baseline for network planning, the IPT helps communities obtain evidence-based performance data for their community that will provide support for funding applications to governments to ensure sufficient broadband access. 

Please click on this link to use the Pictou County Internet Performance Test:

https://performance.cira.ca/pictou

The test will be run continuously over the coming months.

To find more about Pictou’s efforts to improve Broadband service in the region, visit Pictou’s “Rural Internet Project” page, or call (902) 485-4311 or email Brian Cullen, CAO, Municipality of Pictou County, at brian.cullen@munpict.ca