Is fiber-optic Internet a good choice for my business?

If fibre optic internet is available at your business address, it is almost always the right choice. That’s the short answer.

The longer answer involves understanding what kind of fibre you’re getting (because not all fibre is the same), what it costs relative to alternatives, and whether your business actually needs features like symmetric speeds and an SLA. This guide covers all of that with current Canadian pricing and provider details for 2026.

What Is Fibre Optic Internet?

Fibre optic internet transmits data as pulses of light through thin strands of glass, rather than as electrical signals through copper wire (DSL) or coaxial cable. This fundamental difference gives fibre several inherent advantages: it’s faster, more reliable, has lower latency, isn’t affected by electromagnetic interference, doesn’t degrade over distance the way copper does, and can carry vastly more data than any copper-based technology.

When we talk about fibre for business in Canada, we’re usually talking about one of two things:

• FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), where a fibre optic cable runs all the way from the carrier’s network to your business. This is what Bell calls “Fibe” and TELUS calls “PureFibre.” It delivers symmetric speeds (equal upload and download) and is the gold standard for business connectivity.
• FTTN (Fibre to the Node), where fibre runs to a neighbourhood cabinet, and the final connection to your building is copper. This is a hybrid technology that delivers faster speeds than pure DSL but doesn’t match true FTTP performance. Bell and TELUS both still have FTTN in some areas, though both are actively replacing it with full FTTP.

Why Fibre Is the Best Choice for Most Businesses

Symmetric Speeds

This is the single biggest practical advantage of fibre over cable. On a Bell Business Fibe or TELUS Business Fibre plan, your upload speed matches your download speed. If you have a 300 Mbps plan, you get 300 Mbps up and 300 Mbps down. On a Rogers cable connection, you might get 1,000 Mbps down but only 30 to 50 Mbps up.

Why does this matter? Because modern business workflows are upload-heavy. Video conferencing sends your video and audio upstream. VoIP phone calls are bidirectional. Cloud file syncing, email attachments, cloud backups, and sharing documents through Teams or Slack all depend on upload speed. If your upload is bottlenecked at 30 Mbps and you have 10 people on video calls simultaneously, each person gets only 3 Mbps of upload, which is below the recommended minimum for a clear HD video call.

Low Latency

Fibre delivers latency of 2 to 5 milliseconds, which is the lowest of any widely available internet technology. Cable typically delivers 10 to 30 ms. Fixed wireless ranges from 10 to 50 ms. Starlink sits at 25 to 60 ms. Low latency means more responsive VoIP calls (no awkward delay in conversations), snappier cloud application performance, and better real-time collaboration.

Reliability

Fibre optic cable is physically more durable and resistant to interference than copper. It doesn’t corrode, isn’t affected by electromagnetic interference from nearby electrical equipment, and doesn’t degrade over distance. It’s also less susceptible to weather, since most fibre is buried underground. That said, fibre is still glass and can be cut by construction work or damaged by severe weather events.

Scalability

A single strand of fibre can carry far more data than any copper cable. The fibre already in the ground can support speeds from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps and beyond, with only the electronics at each end needing to change. This means upgrading your fibre connection from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps typically requires only a software change or equipment swap at your premises, not new physical infrastructure. Try doing that with DSL or cable.

Unlimited Data

All business fibre plans from Bell, TELUS, Rogers, SaskTel, FlexNetworks, Vidéotron, and Eastlink include unlimited data in 2026. There are no data caps, no overage fees, and no throttling thresholds on standard wired business fibre plans. This has been the case for several years now. For more details, see our data caps guide.

Fibre vs Cable vs DSL: The Honest Comparison

Not All Fibre Is the Same

This is one of the most important things for business owners to understand. There are two fundamentally different types of fibre service, and the distinction matters for reliability, performance guarantees, and cost.

Shared Fibre (GPON)

Standard business fibre plans from Bell, TELUS, Rogers, and most carriers use a technology called GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network). In a GPON network, a single fibre strand from the carrier’s central office is split and shared among multiple customers, typically up to 32 or 64 premises per splitter. Each customer gets their own fibre drop from the splitter to their building, but the capacity back to the central office is shared.

In practice, GPON performs extremely well for the vast majority of businesses. The shared capacity is large enough that individual customers rarely notice any impact. Bell’s and TELUS’s GPON networks routinely deliver the advertised speeds. However, GPON plans typically don’t come with financial SLA guarantees for uptime or repair times.

Dedicated Fibre (DIA)

Dedicated Internet Access means you have a fibre connection that isn’t shared with anyone. The bandwidth you pay for is exclusively yours. DIA comes with a formal SLA including uptime guarantees (99.9% or higher), Mean Time to Repair commitments (typically 4 hours), and financial credits when the carrier fails to meet those guarantees.

The trade-off is cost. A 1 Gbps DIA circuit in Canada typically costs $1,000 to $1,600 per month, depending on the city, compared to $110 to $160 for a 1 Gbps shared business fibre plan. For the full breakdown, see our Leased Line and DIA Cost Guide.

What Business Fibre Costs in Canada in 2026

Here’s what the major carriers charge for business fibre plans in 2026. All plans include unlimited data and symmetric speeds (on fibre).

For a comprehensive pricing guide covering all major markets, see our Business Internet Cost in Canada guide.

More Competition Is Coming: The CRTC Wholesale Fibre Framework

A major development in Canada’s fibre landscape is the CRTC’s wholesale FTTP access framework, established through Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180 in August 2024. This policy requires Bell, TELUS, and SaskTel to provide competitors with wholesale access to their fibre-to-the-premises networks.

In plain language: carriers can now sell internet service over each other’s physical fibre infrastructure. This is already happening. TELUS launched internet service in Ontario and Quebec using Bell’s fibre network in 2024. Bell launched in BC and Alberta using TELUS’s fibre network in October 2025, gaining access to roughly 3.4 million homes and businesses connected to TELUS’s system.

For business customers, this means more provider choice at your address without needing new physical infrastructure. Where you previously had only one fibre carrier available, you may now have two or three competing for your business, which should drive better pricing and service.

The Downsides of Fibre (Let’s Be Honest)

Installation Can Be Slow

If fibre isn’t already in your building, installation requires construction: running cable from the street to your premises, potentially trenching through a parking lot or running cable through a building’s riser. This can take 4 to 12 weeks for a standard business installation, and longer if permits, landlord approvals, or complex construction are involved. If you’re moving to a new office, start the fibre installation process as early as possible.

If fibre is already in the building (which is increasingly common in urban commercial buildings), installation is much faster, often completed within 1 to 2 weeks.

Longer Contracts

Business fibre plans typically require a 2 or 3 year contract to get the best pricing. Bell’s promotional business pricing is on 3 year terms. TELUS’s best business rates are also 3 year terms. Month-to-month is available but significantly more expensive (TELUS’s 1 Gbps business plan is $330/month with no term versus $160/month on a 3 year term). Early termination fees apply if you cancel mid-contract, though most carriers will waive or reduce these if you’re moving to a new address they can serve.

Not Available Everywhere

Fibre availability depends on your specific address, not just your city. Even in downtown Toronto, some older buildings may not have fibre run to them yet. In suburban and rural areas, fibre coverage is expanding rapidly but gaps remain. Approximately 90% of Canadian households now have access to gigabit-speed service (primarily fibre and cable), but that still leaves 10% without, concentrated in rural and remote areas.

If fibre isn’t available at your address, your best alternatives are cable (Rogers, Vidéotron, Eastlink, Cogeco), fixed wireless, or a combination of 5G home internet and Starlink. See our Business Internet by City guide for provider availability across Canada.

Fibre Doesn’t Protect You from Carrier-Level Outages

Having fibre doesn’t make you immune to outages. The July 2022 Rogers outage took down over 12 million subscribers for up to 26 hours, including businesses on fibre. When the carrier’s core network fails, it doesn’t matter what type of cable connects your building. The only protection is having a backup connection on a completely different carrier’s network. Our reliability guide covers this in detail.

Does Your Business Need Fibre?

Here’s our honest assessment for different business scenarios:

You almost certainly need business fibre if: you have 5 or more employees, your team relies on video conferencing or VoIP phones, you use cloud applications for core business functions (CRM, accounting, file storage), you process customer data or handle sensitive information, or you transfer large files regularly.

You can probably get by without fibre if: you’re a solo operator or very small team with light internet needs, you’re in a location where fibre isn’t available and cable provides adequate performance, or you’re a temporary operation where the installation timeline doesn’t make sense.

You need dedicated fibre (DIA) if: an hour of internet downtime costs your business more than $2,000, you need contractual uptime guarantees for regulatory or compliance reasons, or you’re running infrastructure that serves external customers (hosting, SaaS, call centre).

Frequently Asked Questions