As Montreal gets ready to host the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, the city’s mobile networks are already in top gear. Whether fans are trackside or tuning in remotely, seamless connectivity is essential for streaming live race coverage and sharing moments on social media.
In this report, Opensignal has looked at the mobile experience on Montreal’s four major network operators — Bell, Rogers, Telus and Videotron — ahead of the Formula 1 race weekend in June. Since racegoers are likely to move throughout the city, we have focussed on performance across Montreal to understand user experience in the lead up to the event. We have also examined our users’ experience in the nearest major city to each racetrack that has hosted a Grand Prix in 2025 so far.
Key findings:
- Rogers has the most consistent experience in Montreal. Ahead of the F1 race in June, Rogers scores highest for Consistent Quality with 84%. Additionally, Rogers is joint first for Reliability Experience, Live Video Experience and Video Experience.
- The fastest average 5G download speeds in Montreal are on Bell’s network. Bell’s 5G Download Speed score clocks in at an impressive 273.4Mbps. Additionally, Bell shares the top spot for Download Speed Experience with Telus.
- Our Telus 5G users in Montreal spend the highest proportion of time connected to 5G. Our Telus 5G users spend almost a third of their time connected to 5G services. 5G Availability in Montreal is much higher than that seen nationally.
- Montreal performs well compared with F1 host cities. When compared to nearby major cities of racetracks that have hosted 2025 race rounds, Montreal consistently ranks near the top. It places second for Consistent Quality, Reliability Experience and Video Experience, and takes the top spot for 5G Video Experience.
In Montreal, our users have the most consistent quality of experience on Rogers’ network — a result that aligns with Rogers’ top performance both nationally and within Quebec. Rogers also ranks first for Reliability Experience, alongside regional operator Videotron. Both Reliability Experience and Consistent Quality are key indicators of mobile performance, measuring users’ ability to stay connected, complete tasks, and use everyday applications. During high-traffic events like the Grand Prix, reliable mobile connections become essential — enabling fans to plan their day, stream the race, navigate the venue, access tickets, and stay connected on social media.
Video streaming — both live and on-demand — plays a key role in the Formula 1 experience. Whether at home or trackside, fans can follow the action, access on-board driver cameras or catch up on highlights and supplementary content. Telus, Rogers and Videotron share the lead for both Live Video Experience and Video Experience due to their statistically tied scores.
F1 is synonymous with speed, so it is appropriate to take a look at download rates on the four operators. Bell is the outright winner for 5G Download Speed and is neck-and-neck with Telus for Download Speed Experience due to statistically tied scores. Bell achieves a lightning fast 273.4Mbps for 5G Download Speed, considerably higher than its national score of 189.1Mbps, earlier in the year.
Our Telus users are able to make use of its 5G speeds most often, as it is in first place for 5G Availability — the proportion of time our 5G users utilize an active 5G connection — with a score of 32.5%. Bell is near the front of the pack, just four percentage points lower.
As for streaming on-demand video over 5G connections, Telus and Rogers share the victory with statistically similar scores of 77.8-78.6 points on a 100-point scale. Their scores hover around the border of the Excellent (78 or above) category, allowing users to stream in 1080p or better quality with no stalling and fast load times. This is vital when action can happen at any time and be over in seconds.
While we have focussed on the experience of our users at the Canadian Grand Prix, F1 races take place in a whole host of locations throughout the year. We have analyzed the experience of our users in each F1 host city (the closest major city to each racetrack) that has hosted a race so far in 2025 (excluding Shanghai and Monaco).
For Consistent Quality, Reliability Experience and Video Experience, Nagoya in Japan is in position one, with Montreal close behind. Japanese operator au was a global winner for Reliability Experience in the recent Opensignal global mobile network experience awards, and multiple Japanese operators were global leaders for Video Experience. Jeddah is in last place for all three metrics.
The rankings are more varied for Download Speed Experience, 5G Download Speed and 5G Video Experience. Download Speed Experience sees the U.S. race to the top, with our Miami users observing overall average download speeds of 114.9Mbps. 5G Download Speed is the Middle East’s time to shine, with Bahrain’s Manama setting the pace at 290.5Mbps and Saudi’s Jeddah following in second. Montreal is in pole position for 5G Video Experience, although there is a tight grouping among all cities, with Miami slightly below the pack.
Canada has historically lagged behind its OECD peers for 5G Download Speed. Opensignal’s report on spectrum allocation in Canada found that Canada ranks relatively low for 4G to 5G uplift among similar markets, and only around one third of its 5G readings are on the 3-5GHz band. However, this is improving: 5G speeds are increasing year over year, and the deployment of 3.8GHz spectrum in urban areas is expected to further boost performance.
All four operators have made, and continue to make, significant improvements to their networks in Montreal — benefiting users both during high-traffic events like the Grand Prix and in everyday use. In 2023, Telus invested CAD$30 million in Montreal to boost network capacity and modernize infrastructure. Bell introduced a new AI-driven operations solution to optimize user experience, while Videotron is actively rolling out its 5G+ network across the city.
To learn about the national experience of the three MNOs, please read our most recent mobile network experience report. To read more about experience at F1 events read our insight on the Las Vegas Grand Prix. And why not stay up-to-date with all the Opensignal insights and articles by signing up to our newsletter?
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