The City of Burlington, Ontario wants residents to test their internet speeds

The City of Burlington has issued a call to action to its residents and businesses, asking anyone that calls the municipality their current home to do a internet speed test which will measure speed, as well as quality of their internet connection.

Residents can do so by visiting the city’s new internet speed test website, perfromance.cira.ca/burlington.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a group that says it works to help Canadian municipalities to address their internet measurement requirements, built the website, allowing both the city and its residents to gauge the quality of their internet service without turning to a service like Ookla.

The local government plans to use the data collected by the survey to get a better understanding of the city’s internet infrastructure needs.

“As a city that grows, we need our infrastructure such as our internet to grow with us,” said Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring in a statement issued to MobileSyrup.”More and more of our city services are available online for residents and businesses and our business and industry needs reliable, fast internet speeds to keep their competitive edge in the global market.”

In the U.S., cities like Chattanooga, a municipality located in Tennessee, have invested in their own Gigabit fiber infrastructure to great effect, creating a hub for local startups and businesses.

Image credit: Flickr — JP Newell

[source]City of Burlington[/source]