CRTC approves usage-based internet billing

[Bar Sinister]

The list of failures of the major ISPs in Canada gets longer and longer. First it serves only the most populous centres of the country, ignoring rural areas or leaving them to pay for expensive and low quality satellite internet systems. Second it charges more money for lower speeds than is the norm in most other industrialized nations. And third, instead of upgrading its infrastructure it now is preparing to limit the amount users download or make them pay a premium to get better service.

When countries like South Korea and Finland are heading for 100 megabyte speeds why is it that Canadian ISPs are doing everything within their power to limit internet usage, or price it out of the range of many Canadians?

 

[petros]

Both my TV and net are DSL anyway so I don't believe the bull**** about streaming or downloading. TV is already being streamed in far better quality than any downloaded divx or mkv format with oodles of tax credits to the very providers who now ask our elected w hores to screw us yet again.

I didn't vote to get ****ed up the ass repeatedly. Did you?

We built, bought and paid for the telecomm system in this country with our labour traded for cash which was usurped by taxation to provide us with the best service in the world that no private corporation could have ever dreamed of getting the financing for or technological R&D.

The people united under a once more realistic democracy worked hard developing, building and paying for it if you want to use as much as you want for a price agreed upon considering we sold it them for a song and dance and built the ****ing thing then so be it.

In a true democratic free market they wouldn't need the tax credits they get to provide us with a service we choose to pay for.

Get a box of valentines, mail them to your MP and remind them of what happened to some rats on valentines day during the last time some far right cock suckers in Ottawa and Washington went too far and cut off booze and created mayhem in North America during a time when then bankers just like today were gang raping the wealth of the people on the planet through credit and debt.

How many ass reamings does it take to wake up the stunned?

.

 

[Unforgiven]

So the CRTC was told to reexamine the ruling by the Government. Of the very few things I think the Torys have done right, this is one of them.

 

[petros]

How so? Are the Torys going to axe their tax credits to drive a more competative market with freedom and choice?

Maybe we should bankroll a couple more sattelites, a few thousand more cell towers, and enough fibre optics to pipe enough light to luminate a small city for telecomm?

How about putting some of the women who Harper will be tossing into the private run prisons to work in call centers so Bell and Shaw can be more competative? How can you beat free labour while the tax payer houses, feeds and provide healthcare to your $1.99 an hour contracted slave? That's one I'm going to invest in. Why not, humans are just resources anyway? That what the Human Resource Developement minstry is all about. Humans as a resource not the benficiaries but the raw material products are extracted from manufactured by and then sold to in a never ending loop of insanity.

Maybe Bayer is interested. The last time was a huge financial success. Why would this time be any different?

 

[miniboss]

It's about money. For whoever doesn't hit their cap, the provider will take note of that, and if enough people don't hit the cap, they'll just lower it, and make you pay the same amount. That's what Shaw did to me. I started out with a 75gb download limit per month, for $49.35. Now I have a download limit of 60gb per month, for the same price. I feel cheated.

 

[petros]

I have unlimited GB but kbps is capped 650. It's plenty and Sasktel is decades ahead with beaming light around anyway. It's nice to have telecomm that pays a nice chunk of the provincial bills and is dirt cheap.

I want to rub it in a little...especially all you telus and Bell folks out there. Thanks for subleasing on the Sasktel network using Sasktel tech. I really appreciate it as a beneficiary. It might even see my PST go bye bye.

Too bad you sold yours.

Ah well. Enjoy the HST and crap telus & Bell as they ream you again for my benefit.

Alas though I too no longer benefit from the coast to coast national system. I was too young to be heard by my MP but am okay with what is a shining example of what public ownership can do when managed properly and is willing to invest locally in R&D of cutting edge.

 

[Praxius]

Something I wondered about for years is that why hasn't anybody attempted to design a home system that can tap into the internet without going through Internet Service Providers?

There's Cable Internet, DSL Internet, Dial-Up *shudders*, Satellite Internet and all sorts of other avenues for internet access.....

There's already thousands upon thousands of programs and gimmicks for hacking your cable boxes to get all the channels you want for free, just by hooking it up (not that I promote that sort of thing) ..... And the ISP's who provide us with our internet must have their own systems that tap into the internet that they have a death grip on...... you'd think someone would be able to make a smaller Internet Access System you can setup into your own home, plug your computers into and do as you please.

I know it's not a simple procedure to do, but I know it's not impossible.

People can make their own pirate radio stations in their basements, others can tap into radio waves to communicate with one another..... even if the ISP's and Cable/Phone companies hold the monopoly on telephone wires, satellites and all that crap, why isn't there some mom and pop company out there making a dirt-cheap network system that people can use to bypass all this BS from the ISP's?

Google came along and made their own internet browser, google earth, google map, and all other sorts of things that are free to download and use.... why doesn't somebody go one step further and just make a home system that directly taps into the internet??

It's not like the internet is owned by one person or company.... there's thousands of companies out there already tapping into the internet and charging us an arm and a leg to see what's on here....... why can't we have what they have?

Oh yeah, that's right..... they wouldn't get any money and would become obsolete..... how silly of me.

 

[Avro]

Gee, I guess the lines and the network are all their for free and to service that is free also.

I guess because I can I should rip off movies and music via the internet as well.

It's called stealing, just like a New Democrat to think everything is free.

 

[Unforgiven]

Gee, I guess the lines and the network are all their for free and to service that is free also.

I guess because I can I should rip off movies and music via the internet as well.

It's called stealing, just like a New Democrat to think everything is free.

Not at all. A better comparison is ordering a dinner that the menu tells you costs 20 dollars and being presented
with a bill for that dinner of 25 dollars after you've had the dinner.

They companies can change their rates and services offered with new customers, but when you make a deal, you have to stick with the deal.

 

[mentalfloss]

Gee, I guess the lines and the network are all their for free and to service that is free also.

I guess because I can I should rip off movies and music via the internet as well.

It's called stealing, just like a New Democrat to think everything is free.

The more reasonable approach to take here is that both the entertainment industry and internet service industry should be providing lower cost services with higher quantities of information. More services like Netflix might help for this sort of transition, but the cost of media - whether it is games, music or movies - should really be going down by now.

In this day and age, albums should be $5 each, and blu-ray movies should be $10 and games should absolutely not be more than $50 each at launch. If they want to impose internet cost on a use basis, then it better be pretty damn cheap as well. And data plans.. DATA PLANS.. $80 - $100/month to use your phone to surf a 3G network is abhorrent by now.

No, there's no excuse for the price-gouging these media/internet outlets dole out as they all make an exuberant profit that really doesn't need any increases right now. A responsible government would be fighting to allow people on lower incomes greater access to media and information rather than punishing them for the sake of unnecessary profit.

 

[petros]

Gee, I guess the lines and the network are all their for free and to service that is free also.

I guess because I can I should rip off movies and music via the internet as well.

It's called stealing, just like a New Democrat to think everything is free.

You already bought and paid for them dip****.

 

[cdn_bc_ca]

Something I wondered about for years is that why hasn't anybody attempted to design a home system that can tap into the internet without going through Internet Service Providers?

There's Cable Internet, DSL Internet, Dial-Up *shudders*, Satellite Internet and all sorts of other avenues for internet access.....

As far as I know, those companies own critical pieces of the infrastructure. For cable and DSL, there should be a box on the side of your house where all the electrical wires come in. These boxes, as far as I know, are owned by these companies.

The ISP's are the gateway to the Internet. You cannot get on the Internet without going through their hardware. The cable and DSL modems and PVR are programmed on their end to work only at your location so you can't just move it to your friends house (or vice versa) and have it work.

For smaller ISP providers, they lease the lines from the bigger companies so even if you are with joblow ISP, your internet traffic is still going through the big guys hardware and network.

 

[petros]

I'd hate to try and run a school comp lab on pay per use service with DL caps. Could you imagine the gouging that would go on.

 

[cdn_bc_ca]

The more reasonable approach to take here is that both the entertainment industry and internet service industry should be providing lower cost services with higher quantities of information. More services like Netflix might help for this sort of transition, but the cost of media - whether it is games, music or movies - should really be going down by now.

In this day and age, albums should be $5 each, and blu-ray movies should be $10 and games should absolutely not be more than $50 each at launch. If they want to impose internet cost on a use basis, then it better be pretty damn cheap as well. And data plans.. DATA PLANS.. $80 - $100/month to use your phone to surf a 3G network is abhorrent by now.

No, there's no excuse for the price-gouging these media/internet outlets dole out as they all make an exuberant profit that really doesn't need any increases right now. A responsible government would be fighting to allow people on lower incomes greater access to media and information rather than punishing them for the sake of unnecessary profit.

In theory, this should be the case. However, in reality, there is this little thing called GREED, and in Canada, another little thing called COMPLACENCY. Large corporations tend to be greedy and will continue to push the limits for higher prices to make more profit and to look good on paper. Canadians are simply COMPLACENT. It takes a lot to get a Canadian off the couch to rally against these fee hikes. Typical responses that get my blood to boil are "I don't care because it doesn't affect me" or "I don't mind this extra charge because I can pay it" or "I think it's fair because I hardly use the service anyway" Well good for you. It may be the case now, but in the future, when all the companies are doing the same thing, you'll find that your wallet is slowly being leached of any disposable income. We all complain about how the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, well how do you think they are doing it? By shrinking our incomes and increasing our expenses.

I think we've arrived at the point where the majority of consumers are realizing that there is less value in the services provided by the major companies in Canada when compared to the rest of the world. It started with the Rogers iphone fiasco, then with the Globalive issue, and now UBB. But we have dug ourselves a huge hole by not giving ourselves much choice in some areas.

 

[petros]

There is no such thing as "disposable income".

I think we've arrived at the point where the majority of consumers are realizing that there is less value in the services provided by the major companies in Canada when compared to the rest of the world.

The hype of i**** has wore off in Canada and now they need to keep the rates high to dump our old equipment into upcoming markets that will only make them peanuts.

A cell phone in South America or Africa only costs a buck or a two a month because the equipment needed is available cheap and It is portable. It only takes an hour or two to set up a cell and wifi network anywhere on the planet.

 

[Machjo]

Seriously?? In the world of haves and have nots, that's not just semantic, it's downright silly.

What you and I are doing right now, from the comfort of our own homes, is internet access... and I doubt very much that even if I could find a library open at this time, they'd be tolerant of the erratic hours I would find myself running in to get exact measurements for a recipe, grab a print out off google maps, toss off a status update, book a flight, email my family on the coast, pay my bills, make a purchase, .... so ya, there's access, and then there's ACCESS.



Your point is a bit muddled to me - access to education isn't free..... so..... let's take away access to the internet too...and that'll teach them to fish??....:neutral:

I realize that. I do believe however education ought to be free. Internet access, no.

 

[Avro]

The more reasonable approach to take here is that both the entertainment industry and internet service industry should be providing lower cost services with higher quantities of information. More services like Netflix might help for this sort of transition, but the cost of media - whether it is games, music or movies - should really be going down by now.

In this day and age, albums should be $5 each, and blu-ray movies should be $10 and games should absolutely not be more than $50 each at launch. If they want to impose internet cost on a use basis, then it better be pretty damn cheap as well. And data plans.. DATA PLANS.. $80 - $100/month to use your phone to surf a 3G network is abhorrent by now.

No, there's no excuse for the price-gouging these media/internet outlets dole out as they all make an exuberant profit that really doesn't need any increases right now. A responsible government would be fighting to allow people on lower incomes greater access to media and information rather than punishing them for the sake of unnecessary profit.

So the government should dictate what private companies can charge for their product or service?

Haven't heard that one since the Berlin wall fell.

Seriously?? In the world of haves and have nots, that's not just semantic, it's downright silly.

What you and I are doing right now, from the comfort of our own homes, is internet access... and I doubt very much that even if I could find a library open at this time, they'd be tolerant of the erratic hours I would find myself running in to get exact measurements for a recipe, grab a print out off google maps, toss off a status update, book a flight, email my family on the coast, pay my bills, make a purchase, .... so ya, there's access, and then there's ACCESS.

You said they don't have access when they clearly do. The library is a great resource for internet, books, music, movies and games.

If someone can't afford a computer should we give them one of those as well or force companies to lower the prices?

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Personally, I think w should get rid of our protectionist barriers on cell phones, satellite and Internet companies and let the market of competition dictate billing.

Right now we are being screwed by the big three.

 

[Avro]

Personally, I think w should get rid of our protectionist barriers on cell phones, satellite and Internet companies and let the market of competition dictate billing.

Right now we are being screwed by the big three.

Indeed, the market is a powerful tool.

 

[mentalfloss]

So the government should dictate what private companies can charge for their product or service?

Aren't they doing that right now anyway? They're the ones pushing for the freedom to have flat rates while the CRTC is trying to inject some sort of socialistic principle to bring down rates for regular users.

The end result has to be the average consumer - it always has to be the average consumer. Regardless of how the industry is structured, your regular Joe should not be getting screwed over, otherwise we're doing something wrong.

We can avoid this by either by having a free market, or strict regulatory principles. I would choose the latter as there is no way in hell anyone is bringing down these giants even if we accommodated the free-est of markets.