I wrote this many years ago, but isn’t it refreshing that “…plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…”? The CRTC continues to protect the monopolies.
For those of you who are not techno-dweebs or geeks (like I am), you may not have noticed that this past week the CRTC ruled in favour of Bell (and Rogers, I would assume) in their battle with Service Providers who “sublet” bandwidth from them and repackage that to customers (specifically Teksavvy, but others as well) that they must uphold Bell’s Usage Based Billing rules when they repackage the service.
Previously, companies like Teksavvy allowed you to have unlimited usage for a month, with no “caps” on your usage of broadband access to your house. This meant you could run NetFlix, YouTube, and many other bandwidth hogs with impunity, without having to worry about overrunning your monthly bandwidth allowance and then being gouged by your Service Provider. Remember, I have already Needed to Ask for special dispensations from Rogers for the same kind of problems (so this is a topic near and dear to my heart).
This is another blow to those who are unimpressed by the Monopoly that the Major Communication Service Providers have in Canada (for Phones, Internet and Cell Phones), and now we are being held by a much tighter shock collar as well.
However, putting on my Bell Share Holder hat lets me also explain something to my fellow geeks. This is what large companies do. They use their sway and clout to try to crush competitors that are taking away their client base. This was to be expected, and if the CRTC had not made a judgement in their favour, I would guess that Bell would have choked the bandwidth in some other way to stop rampant usage of High-Speed Internet access. You need to be a realist here, and as long as the CRTC (and the FCC to a certain extent in the U.S.), is in charge of this service (or at least make the rules), the monopolies are going to get what they want (sorry to rain on your parade, but that’s the way it works these days).
What can you do?
Simple, ain’t it, though? Not quite true either. There is little you can do to get what you had with Teksavvy again. However, you can negotiate/argue/cajole with your current service provider to get a better deal. I check RedFlagDeals forums to see what other folks have received from Rogers and Bell so that you can get a better deal, but it will not be Unlimited.
If anyone cares to prove me wrong on this one, please post a comment on how it is possible (no, I am not asking for which petition to sign, I mean an actual deal or procedure that gives you unlimited High-Speed Internet access). If I can verify it is legally possible, I will make an entire post about it (and give you full credit, too!).
Hi,
This is Rogers_Chris, part of Rogers’ social media team. I just wanted to share our blog post on the subject to clear up any confusion for our Hi Speed customers.
http://redboard.rogers.com/2011/rogers-high-speed-internet-customers-not-impacted-by-crtc-decision/
Cheers,
@Rogers_Chris