13.10.09

Keep Broadband Competitive

These are not my own words, but the words of a friend of mine (Solstice_sings on LiveJournal). He has put things much more eloquently than I would have, and I feel the need to spread the word:



Unless you make your voice heard, a CRTC decision sets the stage for rapid increases
in prices for your telecommunications and broadband services. You can reverse this
decision, and making your voice heard takes only 30 seconds.

http://www.competitivebroadband.com

Very rarely do I feel strongly about an issue to send it to every single person I know. I really don't like spam in my inbox more than anything. But the truth is, unless people do something about this and lend their support to the campaign, the Internet in Canada will become a lot more expensive.

Simple fact is, the CRTC has recently ruled that Bell can force small ISPs to cap their internet at 60gb per customer, or they can levy a per-gigabyte cost. If Bell's infrastructure had been built on their own funds, this might NOT be an issue, but Canada's phone and internet systems were publically subsidized with tax money. This amounts to a private company imposing a tariff on all other companies using publically-funded phone lines and infrastructure, while THEY don't have to pay the same.

The only competitive advantage that small companies like Acanac, TekSavvy and MTS Allstream have right now is their ability to offer their internet at cheaper prices. As soon as they're forced to charge with UBB (usage-based billing) at the the same or higher rates as Bell and Rogers, they lose any chance of competing, as these two companies will temporarily lower their rates until the others are out of business, then jack up prices to astronomical levels.

It's actually already happening in BC for television. A local, smaller company
called Novus was recently granted the ability to sell television to 225 high-rise condo and apartment complexes. The local big-money competitor is offering their services at a price that is far below cost or anything that Novus could afford. What do you want to bet that as soon as Novus is out of business, Shaw will increase prices even higher than they were before. And this may even be on a private
network, not public infrastructure like DSL was built on.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/08/24/novus-shaw-television-predatory.html

What do you think Bell will do when THEIR competition is destroyed by the
foolishness of the CRTC?

Please, send this to the people you know. Do you really want a future where our internet is more expensive, lower quality, and with less choice than some 3rd world countries? Do you really want a future for the internet in Canada where doing something as simple as streaming a movie trailer or sending a family video of a child's first steps has to be weighed and measured as 'too expensive'?