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[Anony]

first of all, I think this only is a very small affect on gaming, and more affect on just regular using of internet in general
obvious steam gets affected the largest right now, but at the same time, it means services like onlive is basically dead

more broadly, newly launched services like netflix is going to be dead once the UBB takes into effect
here is one of many kickers: bell's own streaming services will NOT be accounted for in your bandwidth
how convenient for bell (and roger i guess) eh?

links (follow the links within links for more info):

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/CRTC-Finalizes-ISP-UsageBased-Billing-112406
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/crtc-decision-ubb-996533/
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/take...lls-doubling-tripling-beginning-march-996839/

just hit up the forums at dslreports if you want to get informed and keep updated

want to do something about it (probably wont help, but better than nothing):
(taken from the last of the links)

1. Go here: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Language=E
2. Type in your postal code, find your MP's name and email address.
3. Compose a email. You don't have to write an essay. If you wish keep it brief, or if you are well informed, feel free to air your frustration.


For those that don't know, for all Bell and Bell reseller providers, starting March 2011:
- Bandwith cap will be 25GB(confirmed by Teksavvy CEO). That's upload and download, together.
- $1 per GB you go over, up to $22.50. $0.75 per GB after that.
- ALL DSL RESELLER PRICES WILL GO UP TO MATCH BELL PLAN PRICES, AND RISE WHEN BELL PLAN PRICES RISE.

For those on Rogers, or Rogers reseller providers:
- Same deal, coming down the pipe a few months later (early summer).


More information:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/canbroadband
http://www.openmedia.ca/meter
http://www.stopthecap.com/

and i thought the cap was gonna be 60gb, but 25 is just a kick in the balls

 

[Castor Krieg]

Caps? In 2011? Holy shit, I'm in Poland and caps were scrapped in 2005 I think. How many Internet users in Canada are going to be affected? All of them?

 

[MDSLKTR]

So do I need to download all my steam games before march 1st? Bell user with a 50g cap here.

 

[Durante]

Wow, that sucks enormously. My condolences to all Canadian GAFers.

here is one of many kickers: bell's own streaming services will NOT be accounted for in your bandwidth

Don't listen to those net neutrality people, they are crazy commies!

 

[Flambe]

Meh, I was paying $50/month for a 10gb (combined up/down) cap when I was up in Northern B.C. at shitty-ass speeds.

So yeah I totally sympathize and hug my 100GB Shaw cap tightly =[

 

[Anony]

Caps? In 2011? Holy shit, I'm in Poland and caps were scrapped in 2005 I think. How many Internet users in Canada are going to be affected? All of them?

all i believe

CRTC is a government created body, so i dont see why this doesnt affect all of canada since the bill was passed and finalized

 

[RS4-]

I was going through the RFD thread last night and I can't believe there are people that defend the UBB and think it's ok.

 

[Deadly]

I was going through the RFD thread last night and I can't believe there are people that defend the UBB and think it's ok.

They probably get their internet paid from their company or something.

 

[Lambtron]

I was going through the RFD thread last night and I can't believe there are people that defend the UBB and think it's ok.

Let me guess, their argument was "if you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about!!" or something like that?

 

[Kifimbo]

all i believe

CRTC is a government created body, so i dont see why this doesnt affect all of canada since the bill was passed and finalized

It should be with a new contract, no ? I'm with Bell for a decade, and I still have an old plan (unlimited). They called me several weeks ago to give me a 5$ "rebate", but I had to change my plan. The new limit was like 50-60 Go. I said no. Bell can't change our contract without my approval, right ?

 

[RS4-]

It should be with a new contract, no ? I'm with Bell for a decade, and I still have an old plan (unlimited). They called me several weeks ago to give me a 5$ "rebate", but I had to change my plan. The new limit was like 50-60 Go. I said no. Bell can't change our contract without my approval, right ?

Doesn't matter what your current plan is, all plans are switching to the new bullshit.

 

[bryehn]

I've had a 60GB cap forever and never hit it, even with Netflix streaming, demo downloads, etc.

 

[Firewire]

CRTC sucks balls, it's bends over for business with almost every decision. These guys don't have the public's interests in mind at all. So much for affordable internet access for citizens in this country.

 

[Ricker]

It should be with a new contract, no ? I'm with Bell for a decade, and I still have an old plan (unlimited). They called me several weeks ago to give me a 5$ "rebate", but I had to change my plan. The new limit was like 50-60 Go. I said no. Bell can't change our contract without my approval, right ?

So far no if you are on the old plan...i`m also unlimited and pay less for different reasons I don`t want to go into now.Also i`ll comment on this later,after I read more about it,I`m not sure why Bell or Rodgers aren`t affected or something...what about Videotron up here in the Province of Quebec....?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

That really is not good. I don't have a cap here in MI. Last night I happened to do log view on my routers activity over the last year. I wasn't even 70GB. I game, watch movies, and do my normal browsing and have game consoles, laptops, PSP, DS, etc. I can see how this could be annoying for heavy movie viewing and gaming though. My number may be wrong so I will have to recheck.

 

[Anony]

it's just, they're uninformed
they dont know that HD youtube vids are huge, podcasts, vidcasts, streaming etc etc

one of the arguments (on rfd) that was made was that since you'd be saving the gas trip to blockbuster, or you wont be paying for cable, it's okay to pay more for internet
logically speaking, i wont deny this argument, but it's counter-intuitive, if i saved my money one something, that means i have to pay more on this other thing

ridiculous, i wish people would educate themselves more

 

[Anony]

It should be with a new contract, no ? I'm with Bell for a decade, and I still have an old plan (unlimited). They called me several weeks ago to give me a 5$ "rebate", but I had to change my plan. The new limit was like 50-60 Go. I said no. Bell can't change our contract without my approval, right ?

no, you will be forced to switch
they will no longer make the grandfather plan available (i believe)

i was switched from the unlimited 'grandfather' plan from bell without my knowledge like, 1.5 years ago

you are one of the lucky few that still have it

 

[Ricker]

For example,what does this mean exactly lol:

``In this decision, the Commission determines that usage-based billing rates for an incumbent telephone carrier’s wholesale residential Gateway Access Services or equivalent services, and for an incumbent cable carrier’s third-party Internet access services, are to be established at a discount of 15 percent from the carrier’s comparable usage-based billing rates for its retail Internet services.``

 

[Takao]

Fuck this shit.

Is it even legal for them to change the terms of pre-established contracts without the customers consent? I'm signed with a Bell reseller, and we renewed in December.

 

[Anony]

Newfoundlander here, Bell Aliant is still cap free temporarily, so I guess that makes St. John's the last bastion for free internet. Don't any of your mainlanders think about moving here to soak up mah bandwidth!

no, i think all of canada is affected, whether your isp charges you if you go over is another story

 

[TheExodu5]

The CRTC alone makes me want to move to the US. I'll be voting for the crazy NDP because they're the only party that seems to give a shit.

 

[ghostmind]

So far Telus is sticking to their statement they won't charge on "overages". They don't even seem to know what my usage is atm, but I will be keeping my eye if this changes.

 

[Flambe]

one of the arguments (on rfd) that was made was that since you'd be saving the gas trip to blockbuster, or you wont be paying for cable, it's okay to pay more for internet
logically speaking, i wont deny this argument, but it's counter-intuitive, if i saved my money one something, that means i have to pay more on this other thing

Of course you can deny that argument.
You make financial decisions to cut your costs (these people are on rfd? christ) where you can and there should be competition for you to get the most for your money. Plus it's fucking 2011 and this is a huge burden on emerging technological advancement.

Drive to the movie store, HAH!

Edit: Speaking of Telus, one of those links just told me that they're giving away the 250GB 360 slims.. For a 2 year contract, ffffuuuck. But their download speeds and caps are at least what I'm paying for my cable, hmm. Wonder if it would go with me if I move =P

 

[Kifimbo]

no, you will be forced to switch
they will no longer make the grandfather plan available (i believe)

i was switched from the unlimited 'grandfather' plan from bell without my knowledge like, 1.5 years ago

you are one of the lucky few that still have it

How is this legal ?

 

[denomes]

Is this for DSL only?

 

[neptunes]

Does an ISP have to enforce UBB or are they just allowed to?

 

[krae_man]

For those that don't know, for all Bell and Bell reseller providers, starting March 2011:
- Bandwith cap will be 25GB(confirmed by Teksavvy CEO). That's upload and download, together.
- $1 per GB you go over, up to $22.50. $0.75 per GB after that.
- ALL DSL RESELLER PRICES WILL GO UP TO MATCH BELL PLAN PRICES, AND RISE WHEN BELL PLAN PRICES RISE.

Wait, someone explain this to me. Bell has tiered plans with caps above and below this depending on how much you pay(same with Rogers) why would this change?

 

[theRizzle]

25 GB upload and download, COMBINED? *sighhhhhhhh*

How is it possible that in 2011, the state of the internet is regressing? Sometimes this country does things that make me ashamed to be a Canadian. This is one of those things.

However, I'm assuming my 512k burst satellite internet isn't going to be affected by this. You guys should all move to Nunavut!

 

[Stumpokapow]

Does an ISP have to enforce UBB or are they just allowed to?

There are two groups of ISPs:
- Big telecoms who own the lines thanks to taxpayer money. Before this decision they could choose to cap you or not and charge you for overages or not.
- Independent companies who lease and resell. Before this decision they could choose to cap you or not and charge you for overages or not. However before this decision, the big telecoms they leased from could not cap /them/, and thus they could not be forced to be capped.

This decision ENABLES the big telecoms to enforce UBB on the independent companies. It does not require them to do so, but since it's basically a government granted path to eliminating your competition, there's no reason why they wouldn't. It does force any UBBed Independent company to pass along the charges to their consumers.

 

[webrunner]

We finally get decent unlimited cellphone plans but in exchange we lose decent internet plans.

Are the CRTC specifically trying to ensure that Canadians get substandard service SOMEWHERE?

 

[bryehn]

How is this legal ?

Its not. You can't be "ungrandfathered" unless you switch plans or are given ample (like 3 months I think) notice that the company can no longer provide the service you have, with a reasonable reason.

I used to work in the telco industry and unless things have changed dramatically over the last few years, most people won't even notice.

 

[Veins]

Caps are fine but having the top limit at 25GB is absolutely ridiculous. Here in Australia that would be a low end plan these days. Thank god for our bandwidth cap revolution last year.

 

[Anony]

How is this legal ?

if they discontinue a service, how would you get support for it
if you signed up for unlimited, how long was the contract for
i know bell discontinued the unlimited plan at least 2 years ago now
so if you had a 3 year contract, at best, you'd have less than a year left anyways

 

[erpg]

Well, looks like my complaints and signature of stopthemeter helped. Glad to see the CRTC can push off their former employers and do what's best for Canada.

 

[Zizbuka]

Before you know it, they'll want to manage your healthcare.

I admit to not knowing much about what's going on up there, but does this include Quebec? Aren't they kinda independent. Or was that just wishful thinking from the other Canadians?

 

[Takao]

Is this for DSL only?

At the moment; yes. But cable appears to be next.

 

[RevoDS]

So far no if you are on the old plan...i`m also unlimited and pay less for different reasons I don`t want to go into now.Also i`ll comment on this later,after I read more about it,I`m not sure why Bell or Rodgers aren`t affected or something...what about Videotron up here in the Province of Quebec....?

Bell/Rogers/Telus/Videotron customers aren't affected by the decision because they all have their own infrastructure, thus they're free to set the rules. The UBB ruling is about the smaller ISPs that use another major company's network to resell internet service (that obviously has to be regulated, otherwise they'd have a huge unfair advantage over these resellers, although they now do anyway).

I spat my drink when I read about the 25GB cap. How is that a reasonable limit in 2011? Even Videotron, which offers some of the most restrictive caps in the business, has a 40GB cap on its high speed plan. And the fact that it's going to be applied to customers signed since (I think) 2007 means they're getting screwed.

That's on top of wholesalers being stuck at 5Mbps. Goodbye, whatever little amount of competition we had, and good job CRTC.

 

[Cynar]

My mp is against this but so is his party. Too many people voting conservative and allowing these minority governments to happen and giving these morons jobs. These last few years with harper in charge has made it sad to be a Canadian. At least we can be glad he hasn't had a majority.

 

[denomes]

Doesn't this put a boon on the growth of tech-based business in Canada?

What is the government thinking?

 

[Veins]

Oh wow, I didn't see the overcharges. Those were phased out here a couple of years ago across the board. One ISP used to charge $AU150 per GB over.

What I don't understand is what is how come the ISPs in Canada are being forced to do this or is it more of a case of they are now being allowed to ( so of course they will take the opportunity to) ?

 

[Cynar]

We finally get decent unlimited cellphone plans but in exchange we lose decent internet plans.

Are the CRTC specifically trying to ensure that Canadians get substandard service SOMEWHERE?

I'm sure cell companies aren't happy with that too.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

25GB? FUCK.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

FUCK YOU BELL.

FUCK YOU.

 

[X26]

So will my uncapped bell high speed here in NS will automatically switch to a 25GB cap in march?

edit: guess that's the case, holy fuck that's shitty

 

[Shambles]

Wow what a load of BS. I thought it was bad enough with the big 3 telecom companies up here controlling most everything but this is taking the cake. If I had any business with them I'd end up switching and urge orthers to do the same

Spoiler

lol boycotts

but I don't do any business with them anyways as my ISP is Shaw and my phone is through Wind. This isn't meant to be inflammatory but it's pretty ass backwards when American customers are getting more fair treatment than Canadians as it's usually the opposite. Perhaps I should write Bell and Rogers a letter asking for my share of their lines that I paid through taxes back. I miss the good old days when utilities were government owned and operated. The inefficiences in those companies are nothing compared to how damaging private interests have turned out to be.

 

[Firewire]

Before you know it, they'll want to manage your healthcare.

I admit to not knowing much about what's going on up there, but does this include Quebec? Aren't they kinda independent. Or was that just wishful thinking from the other Canadians?

jfc!

 

[Liquid_Bike]

Yeah we're fucked

 

[Brandson]

If Ignatieff or Layton is looking to engage younger voters, focusing on this issue would be an excellent way to do it. Unfortunately all party leaders in Canada are far too old to be able to understand the sorry state of internet service in this country to do anything about it.

 

[TouchMyBox]

So will my uncapped bell high speed here in NS will automatically switch to a 25GB cap in march?

Actually, no. The CRTC initially told bell that if they want to set up a facist regime for all wholesale subscribers, that all of their own grandfathered subscribers would have to fall under the same regime, Bell cried how that isn't fair and the CRTC backed off.

Instead, expect to see $10 a month increases on your bill every month until you're being charged hundreds of dollars for your service at which point you'll call them and they'll offer to move you to a 25GB plan for $45 a month.

 

[theRizzle]

It makes me a little bit sad that there seemed to be much more of a public outcry about Lottery Retailers scamming lottery tickets than there has been about ISP's scamming an entire country.

 

[Liquid_Bike]

There are some games on steam that are 30gb what now?