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So much for unlimited internet !
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View this Thread in Original format
| Prometheus Xex |
| quote: | .TORONTO (Reuters) - Smaller Canadian Internet service providers, who operate via networks owned by bigger telecom firms such as BCE Inc, will soon have to pass along the bulk of their host's charges for extra bandwidth use, the federal telecom regulator said on Tuesday.
The move limits the independent ISPs' ability to offer unlimited data plans, just months after Netflix opened for business in Canada, and gives greater pricing power to large carriers such as BCE's Bell unit and Telus.
The new usage-based billing policy takes effect March 31. However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) gave the smaller ISPs a 15 percent discount on the retail rates cable and telecom carriers charge their own customers, citing a balance between fostering competition and the incumbents' right to manage traffic on their networks.
"It a very big slap in the face," said Rocky Gaudrault, the chief executive of small ISP TekSavvy. "We've just become a collection agency for the monopolies, with a 15 percent space to make the collections occur."
Bell, which forced the issue back in 2009, said the explosive growth in Internet traffic and the load it puts on networks -- thanks in part to video download services such as Netflix and Apple's iTunes -- mean flat-rate pricing was no longer viable.
Big Internet providers in Canada, which also include cable and media company Rogers Communications, have for some years charged their customers per-gigabyte fees for exceeding the limit of their monthly plans, which range from as little as 2 gigabytes up to 100.
The smaller ISPs often offer plans with 200 gigabyte ceilings, or even unlimited use.
Prior to the CRTC's decision the big telecom incumbents, who are mandated to lease their networks to small providers, were unable to pass along usage-based charges to their wholesale customers.
Pricing data submitted to the CRTC in 2009 showed that companies such as TekSavvy offer much cheaper service than Bell and Telus, with much more bandwidth.
"We're about to have a retail pricing regime implementing on our wholesale product," said Bill Sandiford, president of Telnet Communications and chairman of the Canadian Network Operators Consortium, which represents 23 independent ISPs.
Sandiford said CNOC was considered its legal options in light of the decision.
The CRTC ruling gives a solid framework to earlier decisions approving wholesale usage-based billing for Bell units in May and October last year.
In August, the CRTC said the big established companies must provide wholesale access to competitors using their networks at the same speed as they offer to their own customers but could charge a 10 percent mark-up.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; editing by Rob Wilson)
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Source... [[ LINK REMOVED ]]
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| GGM |
| Sucks bigtime... What sucks even more is what's likely to come next, where you're charged based on not just how much bandwidth used but WHAT you are using your bandwidth for. |
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| E2EK1EL |
| Yeah this sure does suck, my Sympatico Unlimited plan got jacked up a few times and now it's $65 / month :( |
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| Prometheus Xex |
| quote: | Originally posted by E2EK1EL
Yeah this sure does suck, my Sympatico Unlimited plan got jacked up a few times and now it's $65 / month :( |
They have an unlimited? |
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| E2EK1EL |
| quote: | Originally posted by Prometheus Xex
They have an unlimited? |
Yeah it's grandfathered plan, they keep buggin' me to switch off it and offering me lame ass plans. |
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| Jayx1 |
| Gotta love government interference in the marketplace. Socialist policies really do suck |
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| geroin |
| aren't we paying the highest internet fees already? |
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| VERTiG0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by GGM
Sucks bigtime... What sucks even more is what's likely to come next, where you're charged based on not just how much bandwidth used but WHAT you are using your bandwidth for. |
The cableization of the internet, here we come
$5/MO EXTRA FOR FACEBOOK!!!!!!!*
*10 posts included, $2.50 for each post afterward |
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| Dior Homme |
| quote: | Originally posted by geroin
aren't we paying the highest internet fees already? |
I think we're also leading the world in downloading.
I know I download 100GB a month + another 3-50GB @ school.
I tried to download 1.2TB during 2010 and ended up with just over 1.4TB. It's all my 720p movies. |
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| patpicos |
| quote: | Originally posted by VERTiG0
The cableization of the internet, here we come
$5/MO EXTRA FOR FACEBOOK!!!!!!!*
*10 posts included, $2.50 for each post afterward |
indeed. It makes me furious to see tethering as additional charges on phones.....who the cares how i use my data plan.
Same with charging an extra $10 to add your ipad to your phone package.
We get raped left and right. Its time we open up the doors to all US providers and make cogeco/bell/rogers die |
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| patpicos |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dior Homme
I think we're also leading the world in downloading.
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i doubt that
Im sure sweden beats us by the 10th day of the year! |
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| Dior Homme |
| quote: | Originally posted by devnull
i doubt that
Im sure sweden beats us by the 10th day of the year! |
I read an article we download a lot but after checking online we're 20th.... still pretty high lol. |
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