the last outlaw Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/-faster--cheaper--internet-services-coming-with-crtc-internet-infrastructure-rules--advocacy-group-212830353.html Quote Digital rights advocacy group OpenMedia says a CRTC ruling forcing major internet service providers to sell access to their high-speed infrastructure will help Canadians get online “faster” and “cheaper.” On Wednesday, the Liberal government rejected an appeal from Bell Canada to overrule the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s decision from last July that required it and other telecom giants to make their advanced facilities available to independent internet service providers at wholesale prices. Josh Tabish, campaigns director for the Vancouver-based OpenMedia, said the decision spells good news for Canadian consumers. “It definitely means that faster, cheaper internet services will coming to Canadians very soon,” Tabish told Yahoo Finance Canada. Tabish said that prices for fibre-optic internet in Canada are currently “extremely high.” He also pointed to 2015 data from the Organization for the Economic Co-operation and Development, which indicates that only 5.32 per cent of Canadian internet subscriptions are fibre-to-the-home or fibre-to-the-building. Meanwhile, the U.S. is at 9.4 per cent and Japan leads the way with 72.6 per cent. Upgrading to fibre-optic networks has become vital for telephone companies, as traditional DSL, which relies on ordinary copper lines, can deliver internet speeds in the range of 25 megabits per second to 50 Mbps in areas where fibre-optic cable reaches the neighbourhood. It has also become increasingly important as internet traffic increases across the board. Bell has spent $2.5 billion building fibre-to-the-home networks since 2010, according to its petition to the government and plans to spend an additional $1 billion this year. Its cheapest fibre-to-the-home offering currently costs about $90 a month and delivers speeds of 150 Mbps. The telecom’s top-of-line fibre-to-the-home service, which offers download speeds of 940 Mbps, runs for about $150. Independent internet services providers currently rely on major telecoms to sell them wholesale access to their networks, which they in turn offer to consumers. But none of these small competitors – such as TekSaavy, VMedia and Start.ca – have been able to get access to high-speed networks because “they don’t want to play ball” Tabish said. “They know that a $1 made off wholesale is a lot easier than a $1 made off retail, but they’re not interested in that – they’re interested in control,” he said. “They want complete control of that platform.” Tabish added that Bell, which he said has historically operated a regulated monopoly of Canada’s telephone services, has “control in their DNA.” But Tabish said the CRTC’s new rules will release Canada’s high-speed networks from the clutches its Big Five telcos – who accounted for 62 per cent of the industry’s revenues in 2013, according to the CRTC – and will set off a “race for customers.” He said competition for internet services in Canada is “widely recognized as a joke” and that the major ISPs don’t compete in “any meaningful sense.” This results in what he said are uniform prices and offers. “But this is going along in helping address and really light a fire under the providers to get us there and get Canadians internet access that's on par with our international counterparts, because right now we’re falling badly behind,” he said. “Once the wholesale rates are set and the small providers can start selling, we’re going to see prices shoot down and see all providers more motivated to get customers.” When asked to comment the rejection of its appeal and how the CRTC ruling will affect consumers, a spokeswoman for Bell said the company will "abide by the rules and move forward.” Tabish said Canadians need internet access on par with what is offered in Sandy, Ore., and Chattanooga, Tenn., which both have fibre-optic networks throughout the city. Sandy offers a plan with download and upload speeds of 1 Gigabit per second, no contract or data caps, for US$59.95 a month. Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor who specializes in internet and E-commerce law, echoed Tabish’s statements, saying consumers should see long-term benefits of “more competition and better choice for high-speed internet services.” “I’m very supportive of the government’s decision. I think the CRTC ruling will create a more competitive marketplace for internet access,” he said in an email. “It is good to see that the government recognized the importance of adopting a pro-consumer, pro-competitive approach to telecom policy. It won’t happen overnight, but affirming the policy is an important step forward.” The CRTC told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that it will base the wholesale prices for access to high-speed infrastructure partly on costs studies provided by the major telecoms. Tabish said it is expected that they will be revealed within the next 10 to 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last outlaw Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 I'll believe it when I see it. We were lead to believe the same thing about cable and being offered better TV packages, which turned out to be total BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 It's certainly a positive but we'll see what exactly comes to fruition. None of these companies tend to just roll over and accept things like this and I'm sure they'll take any opportunity to skirt the ruling, buyout and/or price out the smaller competitors etc. Consumers really need to pay attention to stuff like this when Shaw, Telus etc start offering you 150Mbps internet for $29/month *(for 1 year) to price the smaller competition out of business. They have no problem taking a short term loss in order to screw you long term with no competition and jack rates back up to the stratosphere after your one year deal expires. Think long term people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLuciano Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 About &^@#ing time, nothing angers me more than the buffering icon midway through a porno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillooet_Hillbilly Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 1 minute ago, LuckyLuciano said: About &^@#ing time, nothing angers me more than the buffering icon midway through a porno. don't be spoilt, back in my day we had to look under our dad's matress for a magazine and we were thankful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintPatrick33 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Lets see what scheme they throw out there and classify it as "savings" Kind of like how their "unlimited" plans really have a cap on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Bell just settled out of court for charging people in the Yukon and NWT for 911 service that didn't exist...they fought it for a decade, a measly million ish dollars costing quite literally hundreds of thousands in court costs to the taxpayers They will not roll over, and rest assured that your purchase/rental of a modem, your rates for bandwidth or streaming and your home phone, cell phone usage as well as any and all data usage fees WILL be increasing in the near future. The CRTC has and continues to largely be a joke. Until such time as they grow teeth and stop catering to these large companies I do not believe for a second this is good on anything but paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Sparkle Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 24 minutes ago, Twilight Sparkle said: My thoughts exactly. I've been jealous for years now ever since I found out that some people have the luxury of download speeds in the hundreds. That said, I have my doubts that much will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Do you honestly think the CRTC has done much to protect consumer interests? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Lillooet_Hillbilly said: don't be spoilt, back in my day we had to look under our dad's matress for a magazine and we were thankful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 3 minutes ago, Bob.Loblaw said: Do you honestly think the CRTC has done much to protect consumer interests? They make announcements like this every once and awhile to try and justify their existence. They're not on the consumers side, they're on the side that keeps them from getting shut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surtur Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 2 hours ago, Lillooet_Hillbilly said: don't be spoilt, back in my day we had to look under our dad's matress for a magazine and we were thankful At least that was quicker than dial up running at 14.4 not the usual 56k took 2 bloody minutes for the picture to fully load just to find out she was actually a he.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucklehead Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 3 hours ago, the last outlaw said: I'll believe it when I see it. We were lead to believe the same thing about cable and being offered better TV packages, which turned out to be total BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapefruits Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Lets face it. They will just gouge us elsewhere to compensate for the "faster, cheaper" internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Dig our holes deeper Burn that fuel hotter Make the skies darker.. Surely our 'future' arrives faster! :^) So much wrong with this BS-civilization. Guess sheep will never protest being shorn. Remember vividly the beautiful, SLOW life in 1970's White Rock. Don't think youth will ever fully realize what's been squandered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapefruits Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 5 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said: Dig our holes deeper Burn that fuel hotter Make the skies darker.. Surely our 'future' arrives faster! :^) So much wrong with this BS-civilization. Guess sheep will never protest being shorn. Remember vividly the beautiful, SLOW life in 1970's White Rock. Don't think youth will ever fully realize what's been squandered. Grew up on the beaches of White Rock and Crescent Beach in the 80's. Such a much easier and better time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel_3 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 4 hours ago, Lillooet_Hillbilly said: don't be spoilt, back in my day we had to look under our dad's matress for a magazine and we were thankful I used to have to look at women's ankles in their long dresses and then tug one out behind the horse stables. You kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel_3 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 2 hours ago, surtur said: At least that was quicker than dial up running at 14.4 not the usual 56k took 2 bloody minutes for the picture to fully load just to find out she was actually a he.... Usually it was too late for me to stop at that point...I turned out all ri.....nevermind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapefruits Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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