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[Mareg]

So how do I cancel with Bell and find another ISP? Or do I have no choice in the end because independent ISPs will basically be forced to implement UBB?

Whatever the case, I want to cancel with Bell and get a cheaper ISP. I'm in Montreal.

if I switch to cable (Videotron) I'm fine?

You cannot cancel BELL. When you sign with Bell, it is with your blood.
In all seriousness, be very carefull and keep all evidence with you for YEARS. Those rascals will send you bills 5-10 years after you "unsuscribed" their "services". You'd be lucky they don't send their assassins too

 

[Deadly]

are you talking about lifting caps or extending them? I know about the 12 bucks for 30 GB extension but if you know of a way to "bypass" the caps entirely, please tell!

I haven't done this myself but know people who have. If you're commercial Videotron has an option that gives unlimited bandwidth instead. I remember it being listed on the website but I can't find it right now.
EDIT: It used to be included in the residential section(which made it the same price, just an upgrade) but seems they moved it to business and jacked up the prices :lol

 

[Zombie James]

 

[Takao]

Damn, you are turning into the US where former company execs are put to run agencies that regulate said industries.

It gets worse when you consider that the 3 major media outlets in this country all happen to be owned by the telecommunication companies (CTV - Bell, CityTV - Rogers, Global - Shaw).

 

[Dunlop]

if you switch to videotron you're fine for now. I don't know if they will end up getting a similar CRTC deal later on and then cut their current bandwidth caps. If you don't sign a 12 month contract, you could cancel with them at any time and not pay a fee (but your monthly bill is 10 dollars higher)

FWIW, Videotron has increased its bandwidth caps across its packages twice in the past 2 years.

There are no more comittment contracts in Quebec since last june.
New customers can cancel anytime, old ones like me have to wait out their previous contracts.

They can charge you fees if they subsidize the hardware aka cell phones based on the value of the phone when it was given i.e Nexus One is 480 with 100 down based on a 3 year contract with each month paying down the phone (so 380/36 = 10.55 month), if you cancel early you will owe the remainder of the phone

or at least that is my understanding

 

[firehawk12]

I feel like that's a massive over-reaction by the hyperbolic net neutrality crowd, but it's still funny. :lol

 

[Durante]

I feel like that's a massive over-reaction by the hyperbolic net neutrality crowd, but it's still funny. :lol

The "net-neutrality crowd" isn't hyperbolic. It's providing a realistic assessment of the involved companies' motivations and ultimate goals.

 

[Slime]

This is bullshit. I just switched over from Bell to a different ISP with unlimited bandwidth at the end of December because they were dicking me around, and now I find that they're still screwing with me, by proxy.

This makes absolutely no sense. They've basically just taken away anything that made these smaller ISPs even remotely competitive. And how ironic is it that the CRTC, the same guys who cram "Canadian content" down our throats, have basically taken motivation away from any Canadian-based start-ups hoping to get in on the streaming content game to stay in their own country? Keeping anything like that in Canada would basically render it dead on arrival. If I were an entrepreneur I'd be taking my idea to a country without these types of restrictions.

I hope enough people get pissed about this to turn it around, because this is absurd. I've been hearing rumblings about this on gaming podcasts for years but I never thought it would actually happen up here.

 

[amrod]

I would hit the bandwidth cap on steam games alone

 

[firehawk12]

The "net-neutrality crowd" isn't hyperbolic. It's providing a realistic assessment of the involved companies' motivations and ultimate goals.

I dunno, I guess I see UBB as more of an immediate threat than some vague promise that ISPs will block certain sites or privilege other sites based on strategic partnerships/deals.

But that's what you get when you allow companies to become both content providers and content creators.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I guess we need the old "56K" warning on thread titles! :lol :lol :lol

Fuck you, Bell!!

 

[lsslave]

So how do I cancel with Bell and find another ISP? Or do I have no choice in the end because independent ISPs will basically be forced to implement UBB?

Whatever the case, I want to cancel with Bell and get a cheaper ISP. I'm in Montreal.

if I switch to cable (Videotron) I'm fine?

Being that Bell and Rogers are behind this movement I'd cancel with them anyhow. Cable might be an alternative, I imagine they are going to be doing whatever they can to open their arms to the people who will be moving over.

 

[neptunes]

I dunno, I guess I see UBB as more of an immediate threat than some vague promise that ISPs will block certain sites or privilege other sites based on strategic partnerships/deals.

But that's what you get when you allow companies to become both content providers and content creators.

Some ISP already do that don't they?

 

[Dennis]

Same here. 60GB cap (Rogers), and I think 40GB is the closest Ive ever come.

I had to turn down a 500GB cap because I wouldn't be restrained like that.

Freedom is just how I roll.

 

[LCfiner]

I haven't done this myself but know people who have. If you're commercial Videotron has an option that gives unlimited bandwidth instead. I remember it being listed on the website but I can't find it right now.
EDIT: It used to be included in the residential section(which made it the same price, just an upgrade) but seems they moved it to business and jacked up the prices :lol

thanks for that clarification. I know I looked at the business section on their website before and wondered what I could do to get in on that action. figured out it wasn't really possible without committing some type of "sitcom plot" fraud.

 

[Tiktaalik]

The NDP is clearly against it. No comment from the other parties, which probably aren't quite sure what an internet is.

http://www.straight.com/article-369...-approval-usagebased-billing-internet-service

 

[firehawk12]

Some ISP already do that don't they?

With torrents, yeah. I've heard Skype can get touchy on Rogers, but I have no idea.

Still, that seems relatively minor compared to the picture that people like to paint - paying extra in order to access Amazon for example.

 

[slamskank]

I am so lucky that I'm currently in school and can download at 12mb/s over wifi when I'm there. At home I'm lucky I'm with colba.net, which only provides to certain areas in Montreal. They have their own lines so they're exempt from this ruling. If I have to move my decision will weigh heavily on where colba has lines, unless they too get greedy. Welcome to the dark ages Canada. Really sad.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

With torrents, yeah. I've heard Skype can get touchy on Rogers, but I have no idea.

Still, that seems relatively minor compared to the picture that people like to paint - paying extra in order to access Amazon for example.

Monopoly is minor? Really? So you're fine with this Orwellian bullshit where people abbé no choice and smaller companies are sent to die?

 

[firehawk12]

Monopoly is minor? Really?

Monopoly?

Ahh, I see. For me, UBB and net neutrality are two separate issues.

 

[Ranger X]

So basically, resellers are going to be charged more therefore their prices will get higher and they possibly won't be able to compete anymore. This will create a true monopoly of ISP in Canada and eventually, since there's no competition anymore, MY bill will rise.

Am I getting right this right? Well, CRTC can go fuck themselves.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Monopoly?

Bell and Rogers being the only option we have is monopoly. Bell fucking shit up and forcing Rogers to fuck shit up is Monopoly. Canada is one of the most backward bullshit country I've ever seen when it comes to communication. Hell, third world countries like Pakistan have a better Internet service and a better telecommunication service than Canada (more than twice the speed with less than half the price; no paid caller ID bullshit and international calls costing 2 Rs. (less than a cent) per minute!)

 

[firehawk12]

Bell and Rogers being the only option we have is monopoly. Bell fucking shit up and forcing Rogers to fick shit up is Monopoly. Canada is one o the most backward bullshit country I've ever seen when it comes to communication. Hell, third world countries like Pakistan have a better Internet service and a better telecommunication service than Canada.

Yeah, I just treat that as a separate (but perhaps related) issue to the net neutrality debate.

 

[BeEatNU]

I'm sorry my CA brethren !

fuck caps

 

[Jerk]

Oh Canada...

 

[squatingyeti]

It's currently -30 degrees celcius with light snow. Great weather to rape consumers in the ass.

Because not only do they get the humiliation, but also the great chafing due to the cold.

 

[Grayman]

previously caps were in place but never enforced.

 

[Thoraxes]

I don't get why any country would want to move so backwards on this at all. This is such a major step back for all of the internet in Canada, and man does it really suck.

If this garbage ever happens in America, where am I going to move to now? Japan? England?

Let's hope that there's someway Canada can get this reverted because this is total idiocy and technologically is a huge step back for the progression of a DD only future in the country. I hope some other companies that sell Digital Products send letters of complaint too, about how it will deter business from them.

Also, I don't know much about Canada, but what's your status on internet cafes, or places like McDonalds and Starbucks with free or pay as you go internet?

 

[Azure J]

Bandwidth caps in general sound like some of the most draconian shit in the history of the internet, but Goddamn at the hard limits here. I hope someone somewhere wises up and realizes this is not how things should be moving forward. We don't need any more precedents being set.

My condolences to Canada-GAF.

 

[Deadly]

thanks for that clarification. I know I looked at the business section on their website before and wondered what I could do to get in on that action. figured out it wasn't really possible without committing some type of "sitcom plot" fraud.

It's not exactly fraud I think. Apparently, it's quite easy to acquire a commercial line.

 

[theRizzle]

It's currently -30 degrees celcius with light snow. Great weather to rape consumers in the ass.

-30?!
I would kill to be where you are right now!

Temperature: -40.6°C
Wind: NNW 39 km/h
Wind Chill: -62

 

[Stoffinator]

Does this only affect companies who "use" Bells so called servers (such as Techsavvy) or does this affect my usage as a Bell user? I pay for a 150gig a month and certainly don't want its price to go up.

 

[rsam87]

Canada's telecommunications are so messed up.

This is my situation now.

Old internet plan:
34.95/ mo
5 mbps down
800 kbps up
200 gig cap

Come March the UBB internet plan will shit all over this with it's 25 gb cap. I use roughly 180-190GB/mo

The best alternative I have is
46.95/mo
10mbps down
512kbps up
60 gig cap.

I'm screwed, I have to pay more for less cap.

It boggles my mind how the CRTC is allowing competition crushing tarriffs like this to happen.

 

[Sinatar]

The CRTC is run by a bunch of former Bell, Telus, Rogers and Shaw executives who still have stocks in said companies. So despite being a "consumer" regulatory body they make decisions that help them make money.

Our telecommunications industry is literally a cartel, just a legal one, it's fucking disgusting.

 

[Zombie James]

Oh boy...

While it’s true that more people are using more bandwidth than they did in the past thanks to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, the increased consumption, doesn’t mean, as Tony Werner, the chief technical officer of US ISP Comcast told a group of investors last April, that “they drive more cost.”

“All of our economics are based on engineering for the peak hour,” he said.

The cost of the equipment necessary to expand network capacity is decreasing all the time as technology improves. Werner even told investors at that same meeting that it only costs an average of $6.85 per home to DOUBLE the bandwidth capacity of an entire neighborhood, and that the equipment necessary to provide 50Mbps costs less than what it paid for the 6Mbps equipment.

Less than $7 to double bandwidth per home and Bell/Rogers wants to charge $2-5 per GB.

 

[Nottyboxers]

I emailed my MP, now everyone else go do the same. It takes 2 minutes.

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

Terrible.

People who try and justify caps, go fuck yourselves.

 

[careful]

So how do I cancel with Bell and find another ISP? Or do I have no choice in the end because independent ISPs will basically be forced to implement UBB?

Whatever the case, I want to cancel with Bell and get a cheaper ISP. I'm in Montreal.

if I switch to cable (Videotron) I'm fine?

I don't know if this is true, but I read here that the cap will be 60 in Quebec:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,25292515

Still fucking bullshit law. The mainstream media need to get on Bell's ass for this.

 

[krae_man]

 

[Stoffinator]

I emailed my MP, now everyone else go do the same. It takes 2 minutes.

Make a template so we can copy and paste it. lol

 

[Entropia]

I don't know if this is true, but I read here that the cap will be 60 in Quebec:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,25292515

Still fucking bullshit law. The mainstream media need to get on Bell's ass for this.

You mean the mainstream media that is owned by Bell, Shaw or Rogers? Good luck! That's a whole other issue with these bandwidth caps.

 

[Kifimbo]

I don't know if this is true, but I read here that the cap will be 60 in Quebec:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,25292515

Still fucking bullshit law. The mainstream media need to get on Bell's ass for this.

The mainstream media is controlled by telecom giants. And CBC will not go against the CRTC.

 

[AAK]

Oh man... this is actually pretty big.

I really can't play online that much anymore

 

[Riptwo]

I dunno, I guess I see UBB as more of an immediate threat than some vague promise that ISPs will block certain sites or privilege other sites based on strategic partnerships/deals.

But that's what you get when you allow companies to become both content providers and content creators.

So wait, Bell implement restrictive, anemic caps on their users--making competing video services like Netflix less than attractive--yet allow cap free viewing of their own online video system, and you claim that those calling for net neutrality are being hyperbolic?

 

[Raistlin]

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?

And this is why the net-neutrality legislation in the US is so important. It's to prevent this sort of shit which providers have already acknowledged they want to do.

If that shit gets overturned ... let me off this planet.

 

[Deadly]

Oh man... this is actually pretty big.

I really can't play online that much anymore

Playing games online doesn't use up much bandwidth

 

[criesofthepast]

Same here. 60GB cap (Rogers), and I think 40GB is the closest Ive ever come.

Do you live alone? Try living in a house with 3-5 other people. 60GB is jack shit.

 

[Lostconfused]

I emailed my MP, now everyone else go do the same. It takes 2 minutes.

I checked who my MP was and it turns out it was some conservative. I thought I was living in a region that voted Liberal, I had no idea. Don't know what to believe in anymore.

 

[Firewire]

The mainstream media is controlled by telecom giants. And CBC will not go against the CRTC.

So true, the CBC's website isn't even reporting this, instead they have a front page article on how "High speed beer taps are reducing lineup's."

 

[Entropia]

Just to confirm, UBB is (currently) only for DSL connections, right? If I was to switch to my Cable company for internet I'll be safe?