By JACK KAPICA
Globe and Mail Update
If the success of a new Web site is anything to go by, Canadians want a greater choice in who supplies them with their Internet connections.
http://www.CanadianISP.com, created less than three weeks ago, is a listing of Internet service providers (ISPs) by city, and has had almost three-quarters of a million "hits" since it was launched June 14.
Created by Bob Carrick, an Ottawa computer consultant, CanadianISP.com grew out of the unrest among Internet users in the wake of new policies instituted by two of the country's largest Internet providers, Rogers Cable and Sympatico High Speed.
Sympatico has instituted "bit caps," or monthly limits on how much subscribers can upload and download. Rogers has created three different tiers of service, each at a different speed and tied to different packages of TV channels. Rogers has said it too will institute bit caps later this year.
Mr. Carrick, a specialist in digital subscriber line technology, found himself in the middle of a protest against the measures when he launched an on-line petition against them. That petition (at http://www.petitiononline.com) has reached more than 12,000 signatures. Many people contacted Mr. Carrick and asked him whether he knew of any alternatives in their area, a question that gave rise to CanadianISP.com.
"It's telling us that a lot of Canadians are interested in finding alternative service providers," Mr. Carrick said Wednesday. He refused to say that all the traffic at the site comes has come from people disgruntled with the recent measures instituted by Rogers and Sympatico.
"It's not necessarily a rebellion," he said. "People come for different reasons."
But he does admit there is a backlash against the big providers.
"It's definitely out there," he said. "Go to DSLreports.com, and it's one of the most talked-about topics in their discussion groups."
Visitors to the site can select a city for which they want Internet service, and choose among providers based on cost, services or the kind of connection.
Mr. Carrick said that he has attracted 38 service providers who offer Internet service in more than 1,000 cities and towns.
There are 954 registered Internet providers registered with the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), an organization which has included Mr. Carrick's site as an affiliated member. About half of the providers are very small, serving fewer than 1,000 customers.
Mr. Carrick hopes that the large companies - among them Shaw Communications, Telus Inc., Sympatico, Rogers and Videotron - will also post their services on the Web site.
The site is free to all service providers, who are offered accounts. They can post their services, rates and other details by themselves, and update the information as is necessary.
Mr. Carrick says the site is already seeing revenue, which comes from banner ads, the selling of a weekly featured ISP in each city, and access to the site's data, which indicate where people are looking and what kind of service they're seeking.
Mr. Carrick is quick to say he is not selling any private information, simply the results of the searches.
So far, the site has had more than 648,000 hits. The top searches, he said, are for residential services, followed by digital subscriber line (DSL) connections, cable connections, satellite services and then dial-ups.
Globe Technology
Globe and Mail Update
If the success of a new Web site is anything to go by, Canadians want a greater choice in who supplies them with their Internet connections.
http://www.CanadianISP.com, created less than three weeks ago, is a listing of Internet service providers (ISPs) by city, and has had almost three-quarters of a million "hits" since it was launched June 14.
Created by Bob Carrick, an Ottawa computer consultant, CanadianISP.com grew out of the unrest among Internet users in the wake of new policies instituted by two of the country's largest Internet providers, Rogers Cable and Sympatico High Speed.
Sympatico has instituted "bit caps," or monthly limits on how much subscribers can upload and download. Rogers has created three different tiers of service, each at a different speed and tied to different packages of TV channels. Rogers has said it too will institute bit caps later this year.
Mr. Carrick, a specialist in digital subscriber line technology, found himself in the middle of a protest against the measures when he launched an on-line petition against them. That petition (at http://www.petitiononline.com) has reached more than 12,000 signatures. Many people contacted Mr. Carrick and asked him whether he knew of any alternatives in their area, a question that gave rise to CanadianISP.com.
"It's telling us that a lot of Canadians are interested in finding alternative service providers," Mr. Carrick said Wednesday. He refused to say that all the traffic at the site comes has come from people disgruntled with the recent measures instituted by Rogers and Sympatico.
"It's not necessarily a rebellion," he said. "People come for different reasons."
But he does admit there is a backlash against the big providers.
"It's definitely out there," he said. "Go to DSLreports.com, and it's one of the most talked-about topics in their discussion groups."
Visitors to the site can select a city for which they want Internet service, and choose among providers based on cost, services or the kind of connection.
Mr. Carrick said that he has attracted 38 service providers who offer Internet service in more than 1,000 cities and towns.
There are 954 registered Internet providers registered with the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), an organization which has included Mr. Carrick's site as an affiliated member. About half of the providers are very small, serving fewer than 1,000 customers.
Mr. Carrick hopes that the large companies - among them Shaw Communications, Telus Inc., Sympatico, Rogers and Videotron - will also post their services on the Web site.
The site is free to all service providers, who are offered accounts. They can post their services, rates and other details by themselves, and update the information as is necessary.
Mr. Carrick says the site is already seeing revenue, which comes from banner ads, the selling of a weekly featured ISP in each city, and access to the site's data, which indicate where people are looking and what kind of service they're seeking.
Mr. Carrick is quick to say he is not selling any private information, simply the results of the searches.
So far, the site has had more than 648,000 hits. The top searches, he said, are for residential services, followed by digital subscriber line (DSL) connections, cable connections, satellite services and then dial-ups.
Globe Technology
