A company that is new and trying to build broadband content could go under because of bit caps very easily.
How can we fight the bit cap?
- Thread starter Anonymous
- Start date
Bob Carrick said:
But Bob, based on your list of available ISP's for DSL, there are many without caps at this time. I can see more and more adding to the forray as time goes by, as costs may increase due to the monopolizing control over those very lines by Ma Bell. Similar to what is happening to WorldCom in the US as Bell tightens the screws on what has been a thorn in their side for a long time, and Bell controls the "last mile" of all services using phone lines.
As you are more "in the know" than anybody I have come across so far, can you give an example of how, as per your example, a broadband developer would have that drastic a cost increase for delivery because of the bitcaps? I am sure a clarification of how this impacts us as developers, in black and white sort of speak, would be appreciated by many. I have talked to many that will never achieve the cap but are fearful of it. A developer needs to be concerned, as with any business cost, so that quote factors can be amortized.
Not an increase of cost in delivery but a decrease of customer base to sell that broadband content to.
If our service price increases and limits to the amount we download continue then what will happens is customers will no longer able to afford to purchase 3rd party "new" broadband content. Therefore these new companies will have no source of revenue and then eventually go under.
If our service price increases and limits to the amount we download continue then what will happens is customers will no longer able to afford to purchase 3rd party "new" broadband content. Therefore these new companies will have no source of revenue and then eventually go under.
Excellent point Bob! Should have seen that 
The overall ramifications of limiting broadband usage could be far reaching. But again, society and technology progresses, and cost of "living" is a constant in our daily lives. After seeing what it costs in the US (in CDN dollars) for broadband access/use, we should be feel lucky north of the 49th. Everything is relative.
Personally I have never been a pessimist - just the proverbial optimist. All the hoopla about broadband cost increases will spawn competition in some form - what form I do not know right now, but history has shown that when opportunity is presented entrepreneurs arise to the occassion. I have faith that this will happen. In the meantime I pray for a loosening of the planned increases and restrictions - whether it be by public pressure (and unfortunately society as a whole is apathetic), or by forethought of the perpetrators.
The overall ramifications of limiting broadband usage could be far reaching. But again, society and technology progresses, and cost of "living" is a constant in our daily lives. After seeing what it costs in the US (in CDN dollars) for broadband access/use, we should be feel lucky north of the 49th. Everything is relative.
Personally I have never been a pessimist - just the proverbial optimist. All the hoopla about broadband cost increases will spawn competition in some form - what form I do not know right now, but history has shown that when opportunity is presented entrepreneurs arise to the occassion. I have faith that this will happen. In the meantime I pray for a loosening of the planned increases and restrictions - whether it be by public pressure (and unfortunately society as a whole is apathetic), or by forethought of the perpetrators.
I agree with your post, if it wasn't for the big noise about bandwidth caps I would not have thought of starting http://www.canadianisp.com so that end users actually have a way of comparing and choosing an Internet Service provider.
Bob, do you know if Bell or Rogers, in the end, are losing money because of abuse or overuse of bandwidth? I know it seems highly doubtful because they own a lot of network resources. Infact, Rogers pays Shaw Cablesystems G.P. for use of their network in Ontario.
To add insult to injury I have heard that Shaw might be buying the remaining network bits from Rogers. Seems like rogers is in a haste to cover short term costs without thinking of the access fees they will be paying for the entire network at a later date.
Again this is just a rumor that is floating around our office, no one can confirm or deny it right now. Although with the recent and past rogers investment and selling trends I wouldnt doubt it much at all.
Again this is just a rumor that is floating around our office, no one can confirm or deny it right now. Although with the recent and past rogers investment and selling trends I wouldnt doubt it much at all.
Andem said:Hmmm, I wasnt aware of that. Ofcourse it would not surprise me in the least bit. However if anything was going around the office I really shouldnt share it on a bboard
Speculative rumours, theres quite a bit of them in any office. Im sure in the Telus/Rogers offices theres delusional rumours too.
The best thing you can do to fight sympatico is to cancel all services from Bell (or BCE), including Sympatico, Bell telephone, Bell long distance, the Globe and Mail, Sympatico.ca and others..
Bottom line, cancel your bell phone service (get better prices at primus), cancel your Sympatico High Speed (or dialup) and find a better, faster and more reliable ISP at www.canadianisp.com . If everyone does this, bell will have no place to go but to offer competetive services and prices.
Bottom line, cancel your bell phone service (get better prices at primus), cancel your Sympatico High Speed (or dialup) and find a better, faster and more reliable ISP at www.canadianisp.com . If everyone does this, bell will have no place to go but to offer competetive services and prices.
This only works if hordes of users do it though JSz. If only 1000-2000 people switch, thats a small dent in their pocket. A mass has to form and move seemingly all at once, preferably all during the same week too. This would show them that they can't do what they are doing now, and the rest of the industry would get a HUGE wakeup call if this was timed properly and hordes of people left ALL Bell/BCE services during the same week. Could you just imagine it? It would be the sweetest thing I'd have ever seen.
Historically speaking, boycotts usually dont work unless you can get a LOT (oh and I mean a LOT) of people to participate in it. If you are locked in on a contract (term) with BCE for whatever you have, drop the phone service to Emergancy use (usually about $7.95/mo or lower).
If someone here can organize a mass switch of 1000+ users in a single week and keep it up for a period of time, I would be impressed. Of course 5000+ people switching in any given week would be nice.
Bell/BCE would call each customer to see why they left service as well, if each customer stated the same reasons for leaving, Im sure it would have a positive impact on our current situation with bitcapping.
Historically speaking, boycotts usually dont work unless you can get a LOT (oh and I mean a LOT) of people to participate in it. If you are locked in on a contract (term) with BCE for whatever you have, drop the phone service to Emergancy use (usually about $7.95/mo or lower).
If someone here can organize a mass switch of 1000+ users in a single week and keep it up for a period of time, I would be impressed. Of course 5000+ people switching in any given week would be nice.
Bell/BCE would call each customer to see why they left service as well, if each customer stated the same reasons for leaving, Im sure it would have a positive impact on our current situation with bitcapping.
Frubsen: not correct. When masses of people leave a service, word gets out about the reputation of a service. Ofcourse people will still be signing up, but not as many as would if they had no caps.
It probably does not mean much for bell, because they are making more money on people (which is a large majority) who go over the caps. But over a long term, I do believe Bell Sympatico will be losing money and losing a large amount of the customer base. Especially when people find out they can pay less for an equal or better service.
It probably does not mean much for bell, because they are making more money on people (which is a large majority) who go over the caps. But over a long term, I do believe Bell Sympatico will be losing money and losing a large amount of the customer base. Especially when people find out they can pay less for an equal or better service.
Anonymous said:
You are right.. to an extent. Word of mouth is a good way to make or break a business, however, look at the scale we're talking here, 1000 people leave, tell their friends, they tell their friends, story gets screwed up each pass, people wont believe it sooner or later. It HAS to make HEADLINES. If 5000+ people quit Bell in any given WEEK, it would make headlines, your damn right it would. Then Bob would be in the papers talking more about our fight against Bitcapping. The more headlines we make with this, the more success we will have in this little war. Its all about perception.
There are a number of people, who would switch to another provider who is better, has way better caps, but charges a little more, I know I would. If I got awesome service and quality, I personally wouldnt mind paying a little extra for it. There are a lot of people out there like this who are fed up with their current providers and will switch to someone who is a little higher priced, but has much better of a quality of service.
Shmad, not even that... If the provider has lower costs, that would trigger a move to. Right now, there are regulations on Canadian broadband services. They are now allowed to charge over $50CAD per month for residential users (so i hear).
Trust me on this, bell will learn their lesson sooner or later.
Trust me on this, bell will learn their lesson sooner or later.
JSz, they can charge more than $50 per month. Welcome to Internet Tier packages. Just like cable TV.