So today, war came to my front door. I had seen it walking around the neighbourhood and expected as much, but I really had not known how I was going to deal with it. I don’t particularly like going to war with anything without actually knowing what I’d be fighting over or the way I would have to fight. I even take into consideration what I want in the end and what is it even going to do for me. This time I wasn’t given many options or much time, but it is here, I have lost my unlimited bandwidth usage for my internet and this is unacceptable.
I could do without unlimited, I mean there’s not much I can nab off the net that really needs it. What’s at the core route of this is that some companies (Bell Canada aka BCE Inc.) Feel that it is costing them way too much money and no one’s buying their piss poor TV services since you know, everything sort of changed over to internet based on demand TV and the like. So the bitched to the national regulator (the same ones who made a ruling over Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, like 20 years after the song came out) who felt it was fair that Bell could charge the smaller ISPs more money for what bandwidth they use probably on a per subscriber basis. So in turn all these Sub ISPs now have to charge their subscribers to keep them from going over or to compensate the company if the user goes over.
So my Unlimited plan now comes down to being only 25GB of uploading and downloading (that’s basically 1/4 of what I do monthly now) and this is on top of my already ‘slow’ connection speed that’s 4.5Mb down and .7Mb up. Effectively I now have to choose which sites I visit, make sure I don’t watch too many videos online, or go to image heavy websites.
How is that for restriction of freedoms? ‘Oh but you could pay the charges for going over the limit’ you say? You know how much it costs me per GB of bandwidth? $2 + tax. Let me put it this way; it’s like being told you can buy a loaf of bread for the month, but every additional slice you need to make food is going to cost you. And yes, the internet has unfortunately become somewhat of a necessity for the work I do, plan to do and the gaming I do. I don’t feel it’s something that I should be limited and regulated for how much I am using. I don’t think I should have to try to steer clear of bandwidth heavy sites because it could cost me in the end. Realistically it would not be such a bad thing if the cap was not so low and that’s what I have problems with.
I was even considering switching providers, but here’s the bullshit I got from them today:
A chat representative will be with you in about 0 minute(s). Thank you for waiting.
Chat representative Danielle has joined the session and is ready to help. To start, please provide your name and home phone number.
You: Greetings
Danielle: Hello, thanks for visiting bell.ca. How can I help you today?
Danielle: Hi
You: I would like to know about what would be the cheapest plan, with the least amount of downloading restrictions
You: I noticed the Fibe 12 very expensive
Danielle: May I please know which services you currently have with Bell?
You: None
Danielle: Name of your province?
You: Ontario
Danielle: Bell internet Fibe 12 is for $36.95/month + modem rent is $3.95/month + taxes.
Danielle: You can get the speed of up to 12 mbps and the usage of 50 GB/month.
You: I have a modem. no home phone
Danielle: I am sorry you have to go with new modem.
You: why would I?
Danielle: It is Bell’s policy.
You: Okay…. Can I sell the modem back to bell and use my own?
Danielle: You may sell it in near by stores
Danielle: Because via online we don’t do trading.
You: and that would void the $4 modem rentl?
Danielle: Yes :)
You: okay, good to know. now. Since I don’t have satellite TV and it wouldn’t be in a bundle, what would the actual charges every month for the Fibe6 be?
You: and is there anyway that I could get a better cap than 25GB a month?
You: becuase I do a lot of online gaming and downloading of games which tend to be rather large
Danielle: There is no contract for Bell high speed internet.
Danielle: There is a one time activation fee that is $29.95 for internet customers that would be waived off for Bell TV customers.
Danielle: Using DSL service you can connect 4 wired and 10 wireless computers.
Danielle: If you wish you can add 40 GB for $5, 80 GB for $10, 120 GB for $15.
You: so I would be paying approx $47 for 120 GB a month BEFORE taxes?
Danielle: Yes.
You: That’s not a very economical plan in comparison to the one I currently have.
Danielle: I am sorry about that.
Danielle: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
You: Wait, you’re basically giving up?
You: there’s nothing else that can be done?
Danielle: I am sorry no.
You: I see then. Well thank you for your time.
I was nearly dumbfounded by what I was told. They couldn’t do anything better to GET A NEW CUSTOMER. I understand there is not always that much flexibility, but like throw me a bone. I tried the other large provider in on this scam, Rogers Telecommunications, but I ran into some problems with them as well aptly illustrated in two images I screen capped.
What you're not seeing, which should be there, is the Internet packages they offer.
Oh ha ha... I have to download a chat program do I? To use what little bandwidth I have to see if I can get more?
So see what kind of dicking around I have to put up with. 3 years ago I wouldn’t have cared, but given that I upload an assload of art, browse youtube like the dickens each week to find music videos to write about, the e-mails I send to get a better paying job and a career are all now going to have to be downsized, measured and weighed as to make as minimal an impact on how much internet I’m using per month as to not be charged for more.
But I have not done nothing. Earlier today I found out to whom the CRTC basically has to answer to in the government and wrote him a nice letter which explains how the move on the CRTCs side was not in the best interests of people or regulation as to which they are to work for. I mean if they can get a song and music video banned from an entire country to appease one person, I’m sure they can turn around and flip the bird to the internet oligopoly that resides in Canada. I know it’s not dire yet, but I’m sure internet plans in China are way better than what we have to deal with, and they are a country who has real life internet police to bust your ass for reading about freedom and democracy.
For the most part when this was all starting up, I was dismissive of how people were reacting to what was going on, not because it didn’t affect me at the time, but because it was the way the were writing a petition about it and who exactly was signing that petition (80,000 people signed it over the internet. That’s pretty nothing when you note that Ontario has a population of 10 million and Quebec another 6 or 7 million). As I read in one report on all this apparently the average internet subscriber uses 16 GB a month, but the mode of that stat was 5GB per month. (mode being the biggest of all the stats numbers)
Realistically the people making the biggest noise are the ones who download an assload of things off the internet all the time and they only know their limits because they check it constantly. The other problem I had with the whole thing is that they now want to get people to rally. If barely 80 thousand people can sign a petition, then how do you expect even more people to go to a rally during their work day? You may generate some media buzz, but realistically it’s going to have a very minimal impact on the state of things. The bulk of internet consumers will continue on not knowing. Really this movement and anger is not that much different from the Legalize Marijuana crowd. Who really wants it legal? The biggest users. Are there really that many of them? No, not really.
You can take a majority of what I’m saying as being apathetic to the cause, but what I feel would be best course of action is not wasting time standing around outside, but stepping up and talking to the people responsible to get answers and find a solution. And that’s why I started looking into who to contact, and now am working on how to communicate with them.
I think there are some bigger issues at stake here that go beyond just a concern for how much internet I can get away with using every month. The internet is a vast changing landscape and it takes some time for people to notice the shift that’s happened or is underway. Sometimes getting that word out to people is not as effective as having it change their lives directly and that would be a better course of action than having a protest in a city that has hundreds of them every month. This has to be attacked via the right issue rather than a selfish one. Yeah I want to fight to get my choice to download, but at the same time I want to protect my future growth and needs that I cannot anticipate at this time. 25 GB a month is going to very much constrict what I able to do and where I can go, and that’s what I do not want.
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