Canadian Anti-poverty advocates call for Affordable Internet

[TOMapleLaughs]

As more and more people cut home phone service and cable tv, the plan for the Bell, Rogers, Telus oligarchy to make up for lost revenue is to boost internet and wireless rates.

Problem:  The rest of the world is heading the other way.  Internet and wireless rates abroad are going down, and will eventually become available to everyone for relative pennies, as part of the UN mandate to 'bridge the digital divide'.  

This also applies to those impoverished in Canada, and the following story describes the call for an affordable internet.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/02/02/anti-poverty-advocates-call-for-affordable-internet.html

Meanwhile, the race to provide free internet access is gaining steam.  From Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg to google, the race to bridge the digital divide is on.  

But will Canada be left out of the upcoming digital revolution?

 

Quote

 

Anti-poverty advocates call for affordable Internet

The high cost of home Internet services is taking a bite out of food budgets for low-income Canadians, new survey shows.

Low-income Canadians are taking money out of their budgets for food, recreation and rent to pay for Internet service, according to a new report that is calling for a national affordable home Internet program.

“The Internet plays an important role in the everyday lives of low-income earners,” says the study by ACORN Canada, a national organization of low- and moderate-income families with 70,000 members in nine cities across the country.

“However, the high costs of obtaining high-speed home Internet connections can lead to unnecessary hardship,” says the report being released Tuesday.

The advocacy group wants the federal Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to mandate a $10-per-month high-speed home Internet product for families and individuals living below Statistics Canada’s low income measure (LIM). In 2013 the LIM was $20,933 for an individual and $41,866 for a family of four, after taxes.

Lack of access to the Internet excludes low-income Canadians from equal opportunities to education, employment, government services and modern civic participation, said ACORN Toronto spokeswoman Alejandra Ruiz Vargas.

“Many members of ACORN experience this,” she said in an interview. “It leads to social isolation because you can’t connect with your friends and relatives. And it leads to poverty because you can’t look for jobs or fill out job applications.”

A survey of almost 400 ACORN members last summer showed 83.5 per cent feel Internet service is “extremely expensive.” Of those, almost 59 per cent said they skimped on other budget items to pay for Internet service because they need it.

About 8 per cent either don’t have home Internet service or have cancelled it due to the high cost.

Toronto single mother Kashima Wright had to give up her home Internet last fall when the bills began to top $100 a month. Now she and her 6-year-old daughter Nalise have to walk to the local library to go online.

“I just couldn’t afford it anymore,” said Wright, 25, a personal support worker who earns about $1,700 a month after taxes and pays more than $1,200 a month in rent.

“I don’t want my daughter to fall behind in school,” Wright said. “But it’s not always easy to get to the library to help her with her homework.”

The Toronto chapter of the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has been involved in ACORN’s “digital divide” campaign for over a year as a way to help level the playing field for students in public education.

“Every day our members see inequity in the classroom between those kids who have Internet at home and those who don’t,” said ETFO’s Toronto president John Smith, who represents about 11,000 teachers in the city.

Although all schools have Internet connections, access is limited by the amount and quality of computer equipment, which is often better in wealthier areas where parents raise money to support digital learning, he said.

“It needs to be available in the home because that is where students — especially at the elementary level — do a lot of their homework and research,” Smith said.

In August 2013, Rogers Communications, Compugen and Microsoft Canada began offering high-speed Internet service for $9.99 a month and $150 computers to about 58,000 subsidized households in Toronto Community Housing.

To date, more than 10,000 families are participating in the initiative, which provides Internet at speeds of 10 Mbps. But tens of thousands of low-income families in subsidized units managed by other non-profits as well as those in market-rent apartments are still without access.

“We believe the Internet is a fundamental part of everyday life — from school work to staying connected with our families,” said Jennifer Kett, a spokeswoman for Rogers’ Connected for Success program. “We’ll continue to monitor the response ... as we look towards future plans.”

Rogers recently introduced a lower-cost $25-per-month Internet program for all customers that provides 5 Mbps download speeds, Kett added.

The CRTC, which has been investigating affordability in telecommunications, is holdingpublic hearings on the issue in April.

“Internet costs in Canada are high and we don’t have anything in place to accommodate people in low income,” said Elizabeth McIsaac, president of the Maytree Foundation. The charitable foundation, which views fighting poverty as a matter of human rights, is working with ACORN to ensure low-income people struggling with the high cost of Internet service can participate in the CRTC hearings.

“This seems like a tangible example of how rights and addressing issues of poverty go hand in hand,” said McIsaac. “The CRTC review creates a window of opportunity to bring forward that voice of lived experience.”

Bridging the Digital Divide

• 58 Percentage of Canadian households with annual incomes of $30,000 or less with home Internet access.

• 98 Percentage of Canadian households with annual incomes of $120,000 or more with home Internet access.

• 83.5 Percentage of ACORN survey respondents who find high-speed Internet “extremely expensive.”

• 59 Percentage of survey respondents who pay for Internet by forgoing other household necessities.

• 71 Percentage who used food money to pay for Internet services.

• 64 Percentage who used recreation money to pay for Internet services.

• 13 Percentage who used rent money to pay for Internet services.

Source: ACORN Canada, Statistics Canada

 

 

 

[Hugor Hill]

Change your OP quote to "EVERYONE calls for affordable internet".

[Canucks Prophet]

38 minutes ago, Hugor Hill said:

Change your OP quote to "EVERYONE calls for affordable internet".

Amen lol

[Shift-4]

They should add the hardware suppliers to the list too.
It doesn't sound like Kashima can go out and easily get a new laptop if need be either.

[theminister]

Supplying free wifi is really something that is completely within the capabilities of the public to make happen, and could be done through a separate private entity than the government. 

The first thing would be to get funds for a feasability study to find the cost/logistics of providing free wifi to the city of Vancouver annually. Then create a model to get that money from the public, either through donations or fundraising. 

It's time to take sonething as vital as wifi and make it basic to our public environment as electricity. There is no point waiting for the government to solve this problem when we could do it ourselves. This isn't that daunting a project when broken down. Cities all over the world are going this way...it's the trend. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_wireless_network

[Chalky]

Affordable internet doesn't have to be the ability to DL a move in 2 minutes.  The internet is now a requirement in today's society and free wifi makes sense.

[Warhippy]

The most frightening thing is how cable companies all unanimously announced they were raising their rates in canada in advance of the new "skinny" cable packaging that needs to be mandatorily put in place by March 1st.

 

To recoup these cable revenue losses these companies have incrementally increased internet rates over the last year and plan to raise them across the board by about $5 per plan on internet, home phone and cellphone.

 

http://www.stockhouse.com/news/newswire/2016/01/25/telus-bell-rogers-cell-plan-price-rises-suggest-collusion-price-fixing

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/telcos-rate-hikes-1.3410425

 

IN a country with 3.5 providers, this is price fixing and blatant collusion.  But our CRTC allows it...

[Kragar]

21 minutes ago, Chalky said:

Affordable internet doesn't have to be the ability to DL a move in 2 minutes.  The internet is now a requirement in today's society and free wifi makes sense.

Why would DL'ing a movie in 2 minutes be the standard?  I get how internet access is crucial, but the article points out the need to stay connected with society and be able to apply for jobs and such.

Fast internet speeds to support entertainment purposes sounds more like a luxury.

Curious if that $100 per was bundled with phone or TV, or if that was straight up internet costs. I pay close to that (after US conversion), but it's for fiber.  If she's paying 100 per for 5-10Mbps, that sounds steep to me. 

[Chalky]

17 minutes ago, Kragar said:

Why would DL'ing a movie in 2 minutes be the standard?  I get how internet access is crucial, but the article points out the need to stay connected with society and be able to apply for jobs and such.

Fast internet speeds to support entertainment purposes sounds more like a luxury.

Curious if that $100 per was bundled with phone or TV, or if that was straight up internet costs. I pay close to that (after US conversion), but it's for fiber.  If she's paying 100 per for 5-10Mbps, that sounds steep to me. 

Totally.  My point is that access to the internet at a speed that is not "luxurious" should be available at low cost.  Those who need gaming speeds or DL'ng speeds can pay more....however, none of us should be gouged like I feel we are now.

[CanadianLoonie]

I'm all for "free" wifi, especially if it can lead to me leveraging it to bring down governments! 

[Kragar]

2 hours ago, Chalky said:

Totally.  My point is that access to the internet at a speed that is not "luxurious" should be available at low cost.  Those who need gaming speeds or DL'ng speeds can pay more....however, none of us should be gouged like I feel we are now.

Gotcha.  I think I missed your intended direction a little the first time.

[Lancaster]

3 hours ago, Warhippy said:

The most frightening thing is how cable companies all unanimously announced they were raising their rates in canada in advance of the new "skinny" cable packaging that needs to be mandatorily put in place by March 1st.

 

To recoup these cable revenue losses these companies have incrementally increased internet rates over the last year and plan to raise them across the board by about $5 per plan on internet, home phone and cellphone.

 

http://www.stockhouse.com/news/newswire/2016/01/25/telus-bell-rogers-cell-plan-price-rises-suggest-collusion-price-fixing

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/telcos-rate-hikes-1.3410425

 

IN a country with 3.5 providers, this is price fixing and blatant collusion.  But our CRTC allows it...

They totally have a BS reason too.  I think they were citing the low Canadian dollar... even though they operate almost exclusively in Canada, paying Canadian workers in Canadian dollars, and all customers playing in Canadian dollars. 

I believe they are not raising rates in provinces with a legitimate 4th competitor like Manitoba and MTS, surprise surprise. 

[BeefcakeBo]

1 hour ago, Lancaster said:

They totally have a BS reason too.  I think they were citing the low Canadian dollar... even though they operate almost exclusively in Canada, paying Canadian workers in Canadian dollars, and all customers playing in Canadian dollars. 

I believe they are not raising rates in provinces with a legitimate 4th competitor like Manitoba and MTS, surprise surprise. 

I agree with you mostly, but they do have to pay for hardware that is not coming from Canada not that that is a legitimate reason to increase the cost of internet to recover the lost revenue of cable. 

[Lancaster]

4 minutes ago, LarsEller said:

I agree with you mostly, but they do have to pay for hardware that is not coming from Canada not that that is a legitimate reason to increase the cost of internet to recover the lost revenue of cable. 

Well.... any large company supposedly dealing with US suppliers should have a lot of US currency on hand, lots of hedging against currency fluctuation, and perhaps even a stockpile of spare parts. 

So.... RoBeLus must be:

A - Gouging Canadians
B - Incompetence in dealing with international suppliers
C - Both A and B
 

[Kragar]

52 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

Well.... any large company supposedly dealing with US suppliers should have a lot of US currency on hand, lots of hedging against currency fluctuation, and perhaps even a stockpile of spare parts. 

So.... RoBeLus must be:

A - Gouging Canadians
B - Incompetence in dealing with international suppliers
C - Both A and B
 

Currency on hand and spare parts only goes so far/lasts so long.  If there is no income of US currency, then sooner or later costs will impact the consumers.

Not to say choice A is not going on by any means, but choice B might be excessively harsh.  

[Grapefruits]

6 hours ago, Warhippy said:

The most frightening thing is how cable companies all unanimously announced they were raising their rates in canada in advance of the new "skinny" cable packaging that needs to be mandatorily put in place by March 1st.

 

To recoup these cable revenue losses these companies have incrementally increased internet rates over the last year and plan to raise them across the board by about $5 per plan on internet, home phone and cellphone.

 

http://www.stockhouse.com/news/newswire/2016/01/25/telus-bell-rogers-cell-plan-price-rises-suggest-collusion-price-fixing

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/telcos-rate-hikes-1.3410425

 

IN a country with 3.5 providers, this is price fixing and blatant collusion.  But our CRTC allows it...

Frightening? More like expected.  No different than when people couldn't handle 3 year cell contracts for some stupid reason.  They wanted a limit and they got it.  They also got higher prices.  No different this time. 

 

Perhaps your Liberal Government will step in and do something about it, LOL!

[Lockout Casualty]

4 minutes ago, Grapefruits said:

Frightening? More like expected.  No different than when people couldn't handle 3 year cell contracts for some stupid reason.  They wanted a limit and they got it.  They also got higher prices.  No different this time. 

 

Perhaps your Liberal Government will step in and do something about it, LOL!

[surtur]

11 hours ago, Hugor Hill said:

Change your OP quote to "EVERYONE calls for affordable internet".

And free local land line telephone. My God 40$ a month Telus tell me how that is justifiable Esp for a back up non primary phone. 

But I feel everyone should be entitled to all basic needs free. And only be charged for anything in excess of basic usage.

Everyone should be allowed free electric to power basic household appliances .

Free local landlines phone service 

Free basic Internet nothing more than 1mbps,  Facebook/ YouTube etc are not essential so no need for high speed.

I am tired of having to pay for something that gets used 1 or 2 times a year. 

My home phone has swapped places with my cell phone about ten years ago. My cell phone was at first for emergencies only. you know the old Motorola flip phones on a pay and talk bundle for like 10$ a month.

But now I pay 40 a month for a emergency only house phone and 100 for my cell phone that has Internet and unlimited minutes etc. 

 

 

 

[CanadianLoonie]

1 minute ago, surtur said:

And free local land line telephone. My God 40$ a month Telus tell me how that is justifiable Esp for a back up non primary phone. 

But I feel everyone should be entitled to all basic needs free. And only be charged for anything in excess of basic usage.

Everyone should be allowed free electric to power basic household appliances .

Free local landlines phone service 

Free basic Internet nothing more than 1mbps,  Facebook/ YouTube etc are not essential so no need for high speed.

I am tired of having to pay for something that gets used 1 or 2 times a year. 

My home phone has swapped places with my cell phone about ten years ago. My cell phone was at first for emergencies only. you know the old Motorola flip phones on a pay and talk bundle for like 10$ a month.

But now I pay 40 a month for a emergency only house phone and 100 for my cell phone that has Internet and unlimited minutes etc. 

Err...who is going to be paying for all this free stuff?

[surtur]

16 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said:

Err...who is going to be paying for all this free stuff?

We already do by paying for the same service at inflated prices. 

Please tell me how a basic landline warrants anything more than a couple dollars a month yet we pay 40.

Internet should be free for let's say 1 mbs and 5 gb data and anything over should be what we pay now.

Yet most of it has been paid for already the basic infrastructure has Been in place for what 60 years for a phone line 10-15 years for Internet (faster than dial up )

Most homes have these hook ups already and the cost of basic services are non existing. As long as they have a service call limit on basic accounts. 

maybe not free because no one likes toggle anything away but maybe a home phone with basic Internet for 10-20 a month.